


Together. Forever.

by Musikenza



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2020-10-19 07:50:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 64,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20653718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musikenza/pseuds/Musikenza
Summary: I have very strict headcanons about Supercorp with kids.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of Supercorp Sunday I thought I'd post again. This is loosely a sequel from my previous work "Together. Always" but you will not have to read that in order to follow this. 
> 
> This work will have a plot strewn through but it is a lot more of a day in the life type of story.
> 
> Translations for any Kryptonian in a chapter will be in the end notes. All of it was spliced together using the sources on kryptonian.info

She sprung up in bed, heaving. She could not catch her breath; it felt like her lungs had collapsed from the intense pressure on her chest. There was a hand fluttering, concerned, about her arm. Lena’s voice was soft when she whispered, “Kara. Kara.”

Air rushed into her lungs so fast it was painful and she became light headed. She gasped. It cleared the fuzz from her mind and the room came into view. Her hand flew to her right and she grabbed onto the bare thigh that was sticking out of the covers. There was an almost imperceptible groan of discomfort and Kara immediately released her grip. Hands enveloped her face and her senses were overwhelmed. Her eyes bulged and her mouth was agape. The hand dropped. “Kara. What is it? You haven’t had a nightmare in so long.”

Kara could not even remember the last time she was plagued with this sort of terror. The Daxamite invasion was so long ago that those had already faded. Krypton brought her dreams nowadays but never nightmares. Without looking, she knew Lena was panicking right alongside her. Her mind was grappling with unanswerable questions. She stared at the wall opposite. “I saw my mother.”


	2. Chapter 2

She woke up to giggling and streaming sunlight. Blinking a few times, her eyes opened to direct sunlight and a little whisper, “Jeju.”

Turning her head, she was met with a face-full of soft blonde waves. Her voice was stiff from sleep. “How did you – I don’t know why I ask that anymore.”

Once her arms were freed from the covers she pulled the little girl into a tight hug. A head snuggled into her neck and too-short arms were thrown over her, trying to hug her back completely. “Did you wake up mommy?”

The girl hopped up on her knees to look at the other body in the bed and Kara groaned at the pressure. It was not as painful as it could have been but it was slightly uncomfortable. She had spent so much time learning how to become human that her body ran on an automated response system and groaning had been the appropriate response. While unnecessary, it actually helped her daughter learn how to act and respond.

The girl fiercely shook her head. “Zha, I don’t think so.”

Kara would have laughed if the sound would not have disturbed Lena. At first the mixing of languages had been hard for her to hear. They did not fit together fluidly but eventually, when the words were coming out of the mouth of the person whom she loved so much her heart threatened to burst, it became bearable and she even started to enjoy it. Kara had started talking to her in Kryptonian as soon as she was born and Lena had spoken to her in English so for her, they were one and the same.

“Good, she needs her sleep.” Lena rolled over, her eyes still closed but the corners of her mouth pulled up.

“Uh-oh,” Lori mumbled.

Lena spread her arms out and groggily said, “C’mere.”

Lori giggled, tunneling her way under the covers between the two of them. Lena wrapped her in her arms, sending Lori into an even louder fit. Kara kissed Lena’s forehead. “Erosh:bem, ukiem.”

“Erosh:bem, momma!”

“Good morning to you, too.”

“Sorry we woke you. We ” - Kara poked Lori – “can go get some breakfast so you can sleep.”

Lena opened her eyes, her face calm and happy and pulled Kara closer so they were all crushed together. “I want you right where you are.”

_“Kara.” Lena’s head was titled with a pleading expression. Kara was frozen against the wall, her fingers splayed and trembling. She was staring, seeing but not processing the scene. Fear paralyzed and short-circuited her mind. There was something that was hers. But, she could not touch it. If she touched it, she would break it. This was not replaceable. Look and do not touch. _

_But she was not even looking because she could not focus on anything; she had stopped breathing. _

_“Kara.” _

_The voice was louder this time and her lungs took in air with a loud gasp. Her eyes began to focus again when a head of brown hair blocked her view. There was pressure on her shoulder. She felt distanced from her own body; the feelings were second hand. _

_“Kara. Breathe.” _

_She gulped at the air, finding her sister’s eyes. They grounded her and all of a sudden her ears were flooded with all the sounds of the DEO. She worked to focus it to just the room she was in. Kara sought out the heartbeat that had become so familiar but in the process she found a new one that beat at a different frequency and time than the rest of the hearts in the room. That was what she could not touch. “What if I -?” _

_“You won’t.” Alex pressed her hand against Kara’s back, pushing her forward. Alex should not have been able to move her but Kara was distracted and she had wanted to move, she just could not make herself do so. She stumbled toward the bed, her hesitancy struggling against the forward momentum. The metal edge of the bed was cold against her knees but she barely noticed. _

_Lena was holding out a bundle of blankets toward her, a soft smile playing at her lips. Kara’s eyes were wide, her lips thin, and her entire body was rigid. She held her arms out automatically, forcing Lena to set the blankets in her hands for her. _

_Kara instantly felt the warmth and when she looked down into the soft, wandering green eyes, her entire body relaxed and she pulled the tiny body closer, her face breaking into a smile. She cooed, “Erosh:bem, chahv’kir.”_

_The entire room let out a breath. Kara settled onto the edge of the bed, enraptured by the miracle in her arms. The baby girl really was a miracle. There should have been no possibility of her coming to be, yet here she was and Kara was not letting go. She fingered at the blanket near her daughter’s chin. “She has your eyes.” _

_Lena sat forward, her legs bending behind Kara’s back and her hands reaching out to stroke the soft head. Kara finally pulled her eyes away and looked to Lena. The corner of her mouth pulled down. “I’m scared.” _

_Lena’s eyes widened. “I’m terrified. You know my mother.” _

_“That’s exactly why you’re going to be amazing,” Kara asserted. _

_Lena looked back to their daughter. “At least we’re in this together.” _

_“El mayarah,” Kara whispered. _

The pancake tower was titling precariously on the plate. Lori had her hands out on either side of it, waiting to catch any that fell. “I don’t think it’ll stay.”

Kara raised her eyebrows and smiled mischievously as she slid the last three pancakes onto the top. “Oh, yes it -”

The pancakes toppled off the stack, sliding across the counter top. Lori’s eyes widened in horror at the accident. Lena did not even look up from her laptop and tea. “Don’t eat them off the floor this time, please.”

Kara and Lori looked at each other and burst out into laughter. None had slid that far, but the last time they had tried to build a pancake tower, they had scooped them off the floor yelling, “Five second rule!”

Lena had not been impressed but it was too late; Lori had already stuffed three into her mouth at one time and Kara had smiled sheepishly at Lena’s glare while trying to stop her three year old from choking on breakfast.

“Do you want booberry ones?” Lori asked.

“Blueberry,” Lena corrected and Lori repeated it back, enunciating every letter. “I would love blueberry ones.”

Lori piled up a huge stack on a plate and started toward Lena when Kara grabbed it from her. “Mommy doesn’t eat ten pancakes. Jeju on the other hand…”she said, taking the plate for herself. Lori put three on a new one and Kara nodded in assurance before the little girl carried it over to Lena. The journey was not smooth. She tripped over Krypto who enjoyed getting in everyone’s business. But, the plate survived. Lena kissed Lori’s hair. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“I want sixteen!” Lori squealed, dashing back to the counter.

Kara held her back. “You get five.”

She pouted but not for long because Kara was drizzling maple syrup all over her breakfast and she was watching in awe.

“Did you drown her breakfast again?”

“What, pfft, of course not,” Kara fumbled, drenching her own.

“Lori? Did Jeju pour too much syrup on your pancakes?”

“No,” she answered, her mouth full of food.

“Are you lying to me?”

She eyed Kara, knowing they were caught and then said sadly, thinking she was in trouble, “Zhiiii.”

Kara heard the sound of Lena’s laptop closing and then the knocking of dishes as Lena joined them at the table. Krypto followed her closely and lied down against Kara’s chair. Lena shook her head when she saw that Kara had the same amount of syrup on her own plate. “Both of you consume way too much sugar.”

“We burn it off.” Kara took a bite. “She’s still a kid. She can’t just eat sugar.”

“But it tastes so good!” Lori complained, pulling her plate closer as if she were afraid Lena was going to take it from her.

Kara beamed. “She’s right.”

“Why did she have to take after your eating habits?” Lena rolled her eyes.

The “L Department” was not the “L Department,” though no one would know that from the outside. They assumed it was a Luthor tradition or that it had been named after Lori. That was the biggest assumption made and it was endearing and cute but that was not the case. It was a good inside joke. Lena found a lot of humor in the small turn on the tongue.

It was the “El Department.” A very small and brand new sector of L-Corp. Lena had reallocated a part of a previously working lab into the new endeavor. She first had the idea when she found out that on Krypton, Kara would have joined the science guild. Kara had promised her that she was happy as a journalist and never missed the discipline but there was always something, or a lack of something, in her eyes that made Lena suppose otherwise.

It had taken a long time and a lot of work to make the project come to fruition but Kara’s reaction when it was unveiled would forever be imprinted in Lena’s memory. To the public it was simply another research lab but in reality, it was a lab designed for Kara herself. Lena had stolen and employed DEO scientists, who had already been working for years to understand alien culture, to man the lab. With the help of Kara, they were trying to recreate Kryptonian science on Earth. Whether it was possible or not was not a question anyone asked. Lena figured that most likely it could never be completely replicated simply because of the advancements on Krypton that Earth was still far behind on. But that did not deter Kara from trying. She was happy about every failure, which was a new look on Kara. They were still trying to make correct conversions and translate words; the work was still at a completely theoretical level. But as Kara put it: “This is the one part of my life where there are no expectations. I can work at whatever pace works because no one is counting on me. It doesn’t matter what happens.”

Lena called it her playground and she knew the board would not approve funding for it forever, especially when they were kept in the dark about the work that was happening. The personal Luthor funds needed a new legacy anyway. Using some of it to make Kara happy was as good a cause as any for Lena. But that was still a ways in the future. The only funds needed currently were for upkeep and that would have been coming directly from L-Corp if they had not changed the function of the lab in the first place. It was no more expensive; they may even have reduced costs slightly with the turnover.

Kara was spread thin as it was between CatCo and the DEO so her presence in the lab tending to exist in hour time slots randomly selected throughout the week.

**Kara (5:06pm):** Don’t leave without us

It definitely was not still five o’clock but Lena knew Kara would still be in the building. The automatic doors slid open when she reached the lower floor. She pressed her key to the pad on the wall; it lit up green and unlocked with a beep and a click.

“What about this one? Or this one? What about that? Huh? That one? Maybe that one?” Lori was standing on one of the tables, holding out different pieces of paper and then dropping them when no one responded. There were three people huddled around a board. Lena could recognize one of the three anywhere and with her first step into the room, Kara turned around, a smile spreading across her face. Lena knew she heard her coming from floors away.

Lori turned with Kara and dropped all the papers instantly. They floated, scattering haphazardly across the floor. She ran to the edge of the desk, stopping right before tumbling head first to the floor and threw her arms up into the air. “Momma!”

“Hi, angel.” Lena scooped Lori up into her arms, pressing kisses to her cheek.

“Can we go now?” Lori whined. “This is boring.”

Kara gasped incredulously, “Tae?”

Lori grimaced, still whining, “Sorry, jeju. Nahn gehd.”

Kara put her hands on her hips. “You were being very helpful a few minutes ago. You didn’t seem bored then.”

“So it would go faster,” Lori pressed causing Lena to laugh.

Lena lifted her higher on her hip. “Well, I guess this one didn’t get the Luthor or El science gene.”

Kara mussed Lori’s hair. “I don’t know how that is genetically possible.”

“It might be for the best. When you start doing experiments, she shouldn’t be down here.”

“Good!” Lori exclaimed, “I don’t want to be.”

Kara shook her head. “Come on, let’s get this one home.”

“Have a good night, Supergirl,” Spencer called from the board.

“Didn’t you ask them not to call you that here?”

Kara shrugged. “They don’t seem to be able to entirely shake the DEO. I guess some habits die hard.”

Lena shifted Lori to her other hip and Kara reached out instinctively. “I can take her.”

Lena shot Kara a look. “I’m barely two months. I can still carry my daughter.”

Kara put her hands up in surrender. Lori stuck her hand down to pat Lena’s stomach. “He’s growing.”

“How do you know it’s a boy?” Kara teased.

Lori had a smug look on her face, verging on sticking her tongue out. “’Cause I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
Jeju - Mom  
Zha - No  
Erosh:bem - Welcome/Good morning  
Chahv'kir - Little one  
Zhi - Yes  
Tae - What  
Nahn gehd - It is.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Instead of having to read this entire chapter in italics, just know it takes place in the past.

“I have to leave for Paris tonight.”

Kara spun around. “You what?”

Lena started toward the bedroom, her voice barely quieting in Kara’s ears. “I know it’s last minute but this partnership is very important. We could expand our reach in Europe and I think my presence will really help close the deal swiftly instead of it dragging on for many more months.”

Lena saw Kara around the closet door and raised an eyebrow at the frown on Kara’s face. “Are you sure this isn’t just about escaping Morgan Edge?”

“This is about beating him.”

Kara crossed her arms across her chest. “So, you can just fly to Paris out of nowhere?”

Lena pulled a few dresses out of the closet. “Technically, yes. But I have to go. It’s for work.”

Lena was back at the suitcase on the bed when Kara cleared the distance between them. She grabbed ahold of Lena’s waist and pulled their bodies flush. Lena’s hands paused in the action of folding and Kara leaned over to whisper in her ear, “Do you really have to?”

Her breath hit Lena’s neck and goose-bumps erupted all over the skin. She could hear Lena trying to control the increase of her heart-rate. She ignored Kara and started folding again. “It’s for work. Yes, I have to.”

“That’s too bad,” Kara whispered, “because I really want you here.”

She placed a wet, sloppy kiss on Lena’s neck, under her ear. The body beneath Kara’s hands shuddered.

“Kara.” It was a warning but Kara slipped her arms further around Lena until she was holding her, leaving lingering kisses on Lena’s neck, feeling her pulse speed up.

“Kara.” It was less of a warning and more of a light reprimand. But she was not doing anything to actually stop Kara. Kara slowly turned Lena around, lips moving from neck to sharp jaw and finally meeting lips. Lena breathed, hot air rushing into Kara’s mouth as her lips parted to deepen the kiss. She reached around Lena, shoving the suitcase to the side before she pushed forward. Lena fell to sit on the edge of the bed and Kara bent over, not wanting to break the kiss. Lena crawled backward, giving Kara room to climb onto the bed after her, which she did without hesitation.

She knew Lena had to leave but she was going to stall for as long as possible. Lena’s hand grabbed her hair, fingers clenching and pulling her head closer until she was sure Lena’s lips were going to bruise. Kara’s hand landed on Lena’s thigh and picked at the hem of the dress until her fingers slid under it and dragged up slowly. But when she readjusted, the suitcase crashed to the floor, bursting the bubble that had enclosed them and Lena pushed on her chest.

Kara sat up, sighing and allowing Lena to sit up as well. “I need to pack. I can’t miss my flight.”

Kara pouted but let Lena push her to the side.

“Are you going to help me?” Lena asked.

“No,” Kara said stubbornly, quickly exiting the room. She heard Lorelai stirring from her nap. Krypto was sitting obediently by the crib. The little girl’s eyes were blinking open. She was the cutest thing Kara had ever seen. She picked Lori up, cooing and snuggling her against her chest. “Erosh:bem. Let’s go get, Momma.”

She carried her daughter into their bedroom. When Lena turned to grab something out of the closet she saw them. “That’s low, Kara.”

Kara pouted. “Lori really wants you here too.”

Lena pursed her lips. “Did you wake her up just for this?”

“Of course not,” Kara promised. “I heard her waking up anyway.”

“And you’re really not going to help me pack?”

“No,” Kara repeated. She wished she had the strength to stand by that but it did not take long for her to start laying anything Lena asked for on the bed and before she knew it, Lena was walking out the front door as if Kara was not accompanying her to the airport.

“If you come are you going to let me get on the plane?”

“If that’s the only way you’ll let me come with you then yes.”

Lena kissed her goodbye as well as Lori but Kara still hated seeing her walk away through the security and she held up the line trying to say goodbye.

“Kara.”

“One more kiss,” Kara all but begged and leaned in for what felt like the hundredth time.

Lena smiled against her lips. “I really have to go now.”

“I know. Text me – call me as soon as you land.”

“You’ll be asleep.”

“Wake me up.”

Lena called as Kara asked but Kara had already been awake, up and waiting. She could not sleep before the call.

Three days later and Lena was still in Paris. Kara talked to her every day; she texted her non-stop which was not actually unusual even when Lena was in National City. She had taken to sulking around the DEO in her free time, her cape dragging on the floor.

“Out!” Alex pointed at the window. “I can’t deal with this anymore.”

Kara’s frown deepened.

“We’re all getting annoyed” - Alex gestured at her - “You know exactly where you want to be so go.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Lena. Go already. J’onn has just about had enough of your pining. And you don’t have to worry about CatCo tomorrow so just go.”

“Are you saying I should -?”

“You’ve flown farther for less.”

“What about Lori? I can’t exactly fly with her.”

“I’m not an idiot, Kara. I’ve got her.”

Kara squeezed Alex lightly. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, get going.”

Kara had never searched out a heartbeat anywhere but National City so she thought she might not be able to find the one she was looking for. But, it was just as clear as ever. She flew over the twinkling lights of a city she was not unfamiliar with. There was a Parisian bakery she loved after all.

Kara flew until the heart became even louder and she alighted on a balcony that overlooked the Eiffel Tower. The doors were wide open and a French news anchor was flashing on the screen, muted.

She stepped through the doors and saw Lena at a desk near the bed. Her body filled with the warmth it had been missing for three days. She tapped lightly on the glass but the noise was still startling. Lena jumped in the chair, her glasses falling awkwardly onto her face from where they had been perched on her head. When she took in Kara, her features turned into wonderment.

“Hi,” Kara said shyly.

“What are you doing here?” Lena was still shocked.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too but I –“ Lena got up from the chair. “What are you doing?”

Kara stepped further into the room, pulling Lena into a hug. Lena’s body sighed into it. She kissed the lips she had hungered for and lingered long enough for Lena to have to pull back in need of air. “I needed to see you.”

“Where’s Lori?” Lena suddenly panicked but Kara calmed her.

“She’s with Alex. She’s fine.”

“Did you fly here?” Lena asked though she already knew the answer. It was something to say.

“Yeah, I know the way. Sometimes I come to pick up these really good pastries –“

“How did you find me though?”

Kara placed her hand on Lena’s chest, over her heart. “I could find you anywhere.”

“You flew across an ocean for me.”

Kara was captured by shining green eyes. “I did.”

“You’re absolutely incredible.”

Kara blinked her eyes open at the sound of a dinging phone. She was lying diagonally in a bed of all white, her limbs splayed every which way. She was clutching onto the sheet. Turning her head she saw Lena with messy curls and smiled softly. “Erosh:bem.”

Lena looked over, matching Kara’s smile and held out her phone. “Sorry if this woke you.”

Kara pulled her sheet up to cover herself as she sat up.

“Maggie,” Lena answered an unspoken question, “finds it enormously funny that you’re in Paris.”

“Hhmph.” Kara frowned. “Well, I find it romantic. And you can tell Maggie that just because she’s never gotten any in Paris doesn’t –“

Lena raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s feisty this morning.”

Kara pulled the sheet all the way over her head and fell back on the bed. She felt it move as Lena climbed on and the pleasant weight of Lena’s body settled on top of hers. The sheet was pulled down slowly. “I find it _incredibly_ romantic that you’re here.”

Kara stared at Lena for a moment, getting lost in green bright eyes and her kind smile. “We should have another kid.”

She blurted it out, which was one hundred percent the wrong way to go about the discussion. Lena pushed herself up, looking at Kara like she was crazy. “We should what?”

There was no backing out now. “We should have another kid.”

“That’s what I thought you said.”

“Don’t you think Lori should have a sibling?”

“It’s not whether or not I think that. We’re kinda at capacity as it is Kara. We live in a small apartment that’s not going to be that great when Lori starts walking. We could barely figure out our schedules without any kids and you know as much as I do that it’s become increasingly difficult now that Lori is in the picture. I can’t even imagine how hectic it would be adding another one to the mix.”

Kara was playing with the sheet between her fingers. In reality, Lena was right. Kara had not so much meant right at that moment as she had in general, but that had not been the question she asked and Lena was giving a logical and honest answer. “But do you want another kid with me?”

Lena’s face slowly changed from incredulous to sweet. “Who else would I want a kid with?”

Kara playfully swatted at Lena. “You know what I meant.”

“Of course I want another kid with you,” Lena chuckled. “But let’s wait a little bit.

Kara pressed their lips together and flipped them over. Lena laughed when Kara’s stomach chose that moment to grumble. “There’s breakfast on the balcony.”

“Sorry,” Kara said. “I flew a lot last night.”

She got up but Lena stopped her. “You might want to put this on.”

Flashing the city of Paris was not the best way to start the day so she pulled the shirt over her head and pulled Lena out of bed, intertwining their hands.

The sun was shining and the sound of the city was different from what Kara was used to. But, Lena was stroking her thumb across the back of Kara’s hand and she could not hear anything except Lena’s voice. “I have to say, this day turned out a lot different than I expected. Having breakfast on a balcony in Paris with you made it so much better than anticipated.”

There was a knock at the door as they finished breakfast. “You didn’t order more room service when I wasn’t looking, did you?”

“No,” Kara responded, adamantly, shaking her head and stabbing her fork into the last bite of eggs.

Lena leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

“Wait.” Kara looked at the door, her eyes narrowed as it pulsed and she saw through it. The fork clattered to the table and Lena was by her side in a second.

“What’s wrong?”

Kara cocked her head to the side. “There is an extremely tall and – I’m not saying this in any way other than to explain her appearance because you are one hundred percent the only woman I have eyes for –objectively beautiful woman standing on the other side of the door.”

“Well, we might as well find out what she wants,” Lena supposed and then added in a grumble, “She better be objectively beautiful or you can fly back to National City right now.”

Kara smiled and wrapped her arms around Lena’s waist, making it hard for them to walk to the door. There was another knock. “Coming!”

“I’ll do it.” Kara stepped in front of Lena but was pulled back.

“This is my hotel room. I will open the door.”

The locks clicked and the door swung open, blocking Kara from view. “How can I -?”

Kara watched as Lena’s jaw fell open and her eyes widened. She smiled smugly but stayed quiet. Lena swallowed hard. “How can I help you?”

“Who are you exactly?”

“You’re the one knocking on a stranger’s hotel room door, I should be asking you that.” Lena’s chin jutted out and her lips pursed. Instead of being intimidated, the woman looked amused.

“My name is Diana. But I am more interested in the person who flew into my city last night and did not leave.”

“Your city?” Lena asked. Kara could tell she was getting more comfortable; their conversation was like the one’s Lena dealt with at L-Corp every day. But Kara was surprised that she had been picked up on someone’s radar.

“Yes. My city.” The woman named Diana was still smiling pleasantly.

“You don’t sound Parisian,” Lena challenged.

“You don’t sound American,” Diana retorted instantly. Kara cocked her head to the side and looked at Lena who for the first time since Kara knew her had a hint of blush on her cheeks.

“So what are you asking, exactly?” Lena composed herself.

“I was hoping to greet the woman standing behind your door.” Lena looked to Kara before opening the door. Kara had an uncertain and embarrassed look on her face from being caught but Diana did not seem perturbed in the slightest. “You’ve been here before.”

Kara frowned. “Have we met?”

“No, but I notice when someone flies in and out of my city. Your beloved bakery does as well.” Kara tensed. She never expected anyone to be watching out for her or keeping tabs on her. She thought she had mostly done everything in secret. Alex would not like to hear that there were eyes on her everywhere. “You’ve never stayed before and I wanted to find out why.”

Diana glanced at Lena. “But I supposed I have my answer.”

Kara stretched out her hand and Diana looked at it for a second as if figuring out what she was supposed to do with it before eventually shaking it. “I’m Kara. And this is Lena.”

“You forwent a last name so we do as well,” Lena said, still skeptical of the mystery woman. Kara was more intrigued than anything.

The woman chuckled and it was a sound from another world. “I don’t mean to be rude or suspicious. I go by Diana Prince.”

“I sometimes go by Supergirl.” Lena shot her a look but Kara did not respond to it. She was not getting any negative feelings from Diana, only a welcoming and heartfelt desire to protect and serve. Kara looked at Lena, trying to get her to introduce herself fully but she was being obstinate. “And this is Lena Luthor, CEO of L-Corp. It’s a company in America.”

“Oh, it’s good to put a name to a face,” Diana responded to the surprise of Kara. “I’ve heard of your work. That is why you are here?”

"It is.” Lena crossed her arms and asked bluntly, “A flying woman doesn’t surprise you?”

Diana looked up and down the hallway, her smile never faltering. “May I come in?”

Kara put her hand on Lena’s arm when she looked like she would like anything else but for Diana to enter their room. “Lena.”

Lena looked at her, sighed, and moved out of the away. Diana passed them, her motions fluid, almost inhuman. Lena pointed. “Crinkle.”

Kara supposed there could be aliens in other parts of the world, she had never thought about it before. And she had never heard of the type of trouble that she or Kal were always dealing with from anywhere else but National City and Metropolis. “I don’t think she’s human.”

Lena smirked. “She’s very attractive, Kara –“

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I honestly think she’s not human. She doesn’t walk or talk like anyone I know,” Kara explained, watching Diana look around their room.

She pointed to a chair. “Is that your suit?”

Kara nodded.

“May I look at it?”

“Of course.”

The woman picked up the fabric, rolling it between her fingers. She set it back down. “It’s very nice.”

“Thanks, my friend Winn made it for me.” Kara felt an instant connection to Diana, like they had known each other for years and were just catching up. There was an honesty and kindness that radiated off her that gained Kara’s immediate trust.

It was an entirely different thing for Lena. She stepped in. “Before Kara goes and spills her entire life story, I want to know exactly who you are and why you care that we are here. We’re just like any other visitor to Paris.”

“Except one of you flies. But of course.” Diana gestured toward them. She held herself with grace and pose that rivaled Lena’s and ultimately usurped her. But Kara had noticed that with the longer Lena was with her, the less and less straight necked and tense she was about things like appearance, except when it was for business.

“Currently I am a curator for the Louvre.”

“Diana Prince, Curator at the Louvre,” Lena repeated, staring the woman down. “So, why are you now at our hotel room. Checking in on random visitors to the city doesn’t seem like it would be in the job description.”

Diana smiled good-naturedly. “I’m not surprised you’re hesitant to receive me or skeptical of my intentions. But I have to be just as wary of the people I divulge my secret to.”

“Oh my goodness!” Kara busted forth excitedly. “You’re a superhero, aren’t you?”

Lena sighed, “Kara, that’s ridicu-“

Diana smiled all the way to her eyes, looking at Kara. She reached out a hand. “I am Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, sculpted from clay and daughter of Zeus.”

Kara’s hand was limp in the incredibly strong hand and Lena’s jaw had dropped to the floor. Diana was certainly not human as Kara had thought; she was a god. Kara could do nothing but sputter. Diana didn’t seem disturbed by that reaction. Lena on the other hand, collected herself and gave a disapproving look to Diana. “The daughter of Zeus?”

“Yes.”

“For clarification, you are talking about the Zeus known now commonly from stories of Greek mythology?”

“History of the gods of the Greeks, but yes,” Diana corrected.

Kara had no qualms. She all ready believed Diana one hundred percent. The woman was being very patient with Lena. Kara wondered how many times she had been asked these questions in disbelief.

Lena studied her quietly for a moment and then spoke, “At this point, knowing what I know about the world, the god thing isn’t that surprising. But, how can we believe you are who you say you are?”

“Trust is a lovely thing that people are capable of but I supposed that must be earned,” Diana said in a tone that almost sounded teasing.

And though Lena was waiting for an answer, Kara hands bunched up into fists in front of her face out of excitement and she squealed, “This is so cool! What do you do? What can you do? I’m an alien and I can do all this cool stuff but you’re” – she was lost for words for a couple seconds – “a god! I guess that’s why you weren’t surprised by me.”

Lena rested her hand on Kara’s arm, lightly. “Diana, may we have a moment?”’

“Of course.”

Lena pulled Kara into the hallway by the door. “I’m really not sure about this.”

“Lena, she’s so cool,” Kara replied giddily.

“And you always have the urge to jump into things when you don’t know all the details.

Kara frowned at Lena’s statement. “She seems very nice. She’s a superhero. I want to be friends. Like a super pen pal.”

Lena shook her head in exasperation. Kara pouted, head falling to the side. “Pleeeeeaaassse.”

Lena closed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Fine.”

They turned back around and froze. Diana had removed her jacket, draping it over a chair and was currently standing, watching them intently. That was not what had the women frozen in their tracks. It was that Diana, curator for the Louvre, was not the woman standing before them. She had on armor that covered her torso, connected to a blue leather skirt that hung short over her thighs. She wore a cuff clasped on her bicep and golden wrist guards. Boots reached up her legs, about the same length as Kara’s own. On her forehead was a headpiece with a sigil that neither Kara nor Lena could place. On her right hip, a rope was wrapped, glowing softly. And just over her shoulder, the hilt of a sword could be made out.

Kara leaned into Lena and whispered, “I think she was telling the truth.”

“Uh-huh.” Lena nodded in a stupor.

Kara jumped in, asking her question upon question, admiring the suit, admiring the sword and then pointed to the rope around her waist. “What’s that?”

Diana unwound it. “This is the lasso of truth.”

“What does it do?” Kara’s eyes brightened.

Diana beckoned her to put her arm out, wrapping the lasso around her wrist. “I can show you. When you are under its influence, you can never lie. What is the biggest thing occupying your mind right now.”

Kara felt the rope get hot around her arm and then a similar feeling arose in her body, forcing her to speak. The words came out in a fast jumble, “This is incredible and I’m so glad I met you and I want to be best friends because you seem really, really cool and awesome and like just wow, this is incredible.”

She heaved in a breath when she was done and laughed. Diana unwound the lasso. “That could be very useful.”

“Kara would’ve told you all of that anyway,” Lena commented.

Diana cocked her head at Lena. “You may try it.”

Lena hesitantly looked at Kara who encouraged her and finally stuck her arm out to Diana. “What is the biggest thing occupying your mind right now?”

Kara watched as Lena did not respond, her mouth quivering and her eyebrows scrunching together in pain. She huffed against its effects until her mouth fell open, “My search for my birth mother.”

As soon as it was out of her mouth, she looked apologetically to Kara who was taken aback, hurt by the revelation. “Your what?”


	4. Chapter 4

Lori was swinging Kara’s hand wildly as they walked down the sidewalk. “I want to see Alex.te.”

“That’s where we’re going, goofball.”

Lori looked around and scrunched up her nose. “This isn’t where she lives.”

“She’s at work right now, pumpkin.”

Lori stopped in her tracks, strong enough to pull Kara to a halting stop when she was not paying attention. “I get to see where you work now?”

Kara smiled. They had kept Lori away from the DEO mostly for reasons of it being inappropriate to bring a child into a heavily armed government facility. And it was still inappropriate but Lori had started to ask more often and it was harder to keep everything from her. Lori looked into the sky. “Can we fly up?”

Kara shook her head. “You already know the answer to that.”

They entered the DEO the way that everyone else did and it was a strange experience for Kara. There were security checkpoints and everyone was very, very serious. She recognized none of the faces. They were sent up an elevator, Lori clinging to her leg, pushing her ear into Kara’s leg to muffle the sound. Once the elevator doors closed, the scuffling and voices from the floor disappeared and Lori relaxed.

She had the same type of sensory processing problems that Kara had had and they had started from birth. Things had once set her off instantly but they had been slowly working on it. It still hurt and Kara’s heart dropped every time she saw the pained expression on Lori’s face because she knew how it felt and it was not pleasant at all.

The doors opened and Alex was right outside of them, waiting with a smile on her face. As soon as Lori saw her, she ran from the elevator and jumped into Alex’s arms, hugging her tightly. Alex caught her. “Oof.”

“Am I as strong as Jeju yet?”

Alex moved the girl onto her hip. “If you were as strong as your mom, you would’ve knocked me over.”

Lori’s strength was increasing much more rapidly than anyone had anticipated. All of the numbers were simply guesswork since there was no precedent to go on. Her cousin had not thought to keep track of his own son’s abilities as they grew but Winn kept a log of everything.

Alex looked to Kara. “How’s Lena?”

“She’s doing good.”

“Is she coming in today?”

“No, I didn’t think you wanted to see her until next week.”

Alex shrugged. “Just wondering.”

Coming to the DEO to see Alex was a cover. Winn had thought it would be best to start testing Lori’s abilities in a protected environment and J’onn had agreed. There had been many arguments. Lena felt that the more professional environment would cause Lori to be used as a science experiment and she was not having that. Kara would never let that happen and with the way that Alex had taken to Lori, there was no way that she would let anyone touch her niece without being given permission. Lena did not want her daughter being influenced in any way by the DEO. Kara would never let her near anything outside of whatever testing Winn had set up. Lena had wanted to talk to Winn, which had ended up with her grabbing the front of his shirt and threatening him. Lena and Winn had quickly bonded and were very good friends but the utter fear on Winn’s face from being manhandled by Lena caused Kara to snicker. There was nothing Winn would do to go through that experience again. He had promised.

Kara had promised that she would be the one administering the testing though she thought of it more as training. That was another thing she often fought about with Lena and ultimately that is how she ended up bringing Lori to the DEO.

Alex jogged down the stairs, with Lori hanging off her side, to where J’onn was giving orders and Winn was tapping away at his computer.

“Winn!” Lori yelled and squirmed in Alex’s arms, jumping to the floor from much higher than she should have been able to. What she lacked in speed, she made up for with gumption.

She jumped up on Winn in his chair and he laughed. “Hey, squirt.”

J’onn came over with the disturbance of the previously quiet workplace and Lori turned around so she was sitting on Winn’s lap. “Hi, Khehthgr J’onn.”

Kara grimaced every time Lori called him that. The first time Lori said that he had been so shocked that it took him a few moments to ask, “Why am I being called grandpa?”

They had tried to get Lori to forego the classifier and just call him J’onn but that never stuck and Kara pretended she did not see the soft smile on his face every time Lori addressed him as such. He would never admit it but he did not mind.

Winn groaned as he picked Lori up to set her back on the floor. “Ugh, you’re heavy.”

“You’re just weak.” Alex scoffed.

Winn looked at her. “She’s half-Kryptonian. I don’t think that classifies me as weak.”

Alex shrugged and nodded her head to the side. “Are we all set to go?”

Winn jumped up and clapped his hands. “You ready to see what you can do, Lori?”

Lori looked back and forth between Winn, Kara, and Alex.

“We haven’t exactly told her yet.” Kara bent down so she was on Lori’s level. “You know how Jeju can do all the cool stuff?”

“Like set things on fire or freeze them?” Lori asked, her eyes glowing with excitement.

Kara winced. “Not exactly. We don’t set things on fire, okay?”

“Got it!” Lori yelled. That brought a few stares from the surrounding agents but when Lori got excited, she tended to also get loud.

“Let’s go, munchkin,” Alex said. Alex’s hand only reached the back of her head but she still guided her to the training rooms.

Winn had set up a small obstacle course. He plugged his pad into the console in the room and brought up a screen of data that looked unintelligible. “I thought we should test her speed first.”

Lori got in a ready stance. “I can go fast.”

Kara grabbed hold of the back of her shirt. “Not so fast.”

She looked around the room and then back at Winn, setting her hands on her hips. “You expect me to let you test my daughter’s speed while she’s running around a room filled with concrete? Na-uh.”

In three seconds, Kara had the blocks stacked near a wall. “Let’s start off slow, shall we?”

“On your mark. Get set. GO!” Winn yelled from the sidelines. There was no competition. Kara was at the other end of the room before Lori had even made it halfway and she scooped the tiny girl up in her arms before she slammed into the wall. She had not figured out how to stop yet. They learned that on the first run when she had ended up on her back in front of the door. That might be something she did not tell Lena about the first day of training.

Lori was pouting that she lost so Kara grabbed a hold of her nose and wiggled.

“Give it back!”

“I don’t think so.” Kara shook her head stubbornly. Lori was exasperated. “How am I supposed to smell now?”

“I don’t think pouty girls need to smell.”

“Yes, we do.” She tried to put her hands on her hips.

“Hey, Alex? Do pouty girls need their noses?”

Alex shook her head, humoring Kara. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Then I’m not pouting anymore,” Lori promised and Kara squeezed her nose and made a popping sound. Lori put her hand to her face just to make sure it was there.

“Do I get to do more stuff?” she asked Winn who looked to Kara for an answer.

Kara bounced her on her hip. “What kinda stuff?”

Lori hid her head in Kara’s neck and mumbled, “You get to fly.”

Kara’s eyes widened. Lori had not been flying but she had been hovering. Sometimes it happened randomly, sometimes in her sleep, sometimes when her emotions were too big for her to handle, and sometimes on purpose. But it never lasted long, she could not hold onto it. Lena did not want her flying yet but if they were going to test to see what she could do, they had to check eventually.

Neither Winn nor Alex heard what she had said but Alex gathered from the look on Kara’s face and stepped in to save her. “You’re gonna wipe us all out. One thing at a time.”

Lori un-tucked her head, ignoring Alex but looking at Kara. Her eyes were wide and green. She was not pouting; she just looked sad. “I want to fly, Jeju.”

Kara could have broken down in tears just from that but she swallowed them back and smiled tenderly. She glanced at Alex who looked like she had just been shocked to Winn who was so confused and had no idea what to do. Kara kissed her head. “Then we fly, chahv’kir.”

Lori was perched on the edge of the desk, feet hanging off the end, watching everyone around the office. She had thought it would have been a problem at first, bringing her daughter to work, but Cat Grant took one look at her and said, “Carter would have loved that,” and didn’t ask any questions.

Kara called out the door of her office. “Casady, I need that article on my desk twenty minutes ago!”

Lori turned to look at her, smiling, and sang, “You’re the boss. You’re the boss.”

Kara laughed. “I am the boss.”

“Am I gonna be the boss when I grow up? You and momma are both the boss.”

Kara chewed on the end of the pen as she read the paper in front her. “That’s up to you, is’kal.”

Lori made to crawl across Kara’s desk but she was scooped off the desk with a _whoosh_ noise from James. He held her high above his head and pretended she was an airplane while she giggled and twisted in his hands. She could not have been easy to hold on to. James set her back down on the desk when he found they had made enough of a disturbance.

He pushed the layouts across the desk for Kara. She did not need to see them before he showed them to Cat but she always liked to so he always brought them. “How’s Lena?”

“Wonderful,” Kara said, tapping the laminate. “These are great.”

James smiled. “We’ll see what the boss lady has to say.”

“Jeju’s the boss!” Lori corrected. James squatted down, resting his forearms on the desk next to Lori.

“Do you remember the lady with the big office over there?” He pointed to the other side of the door. “She’s the big boss.”

Lori’s head fell to the side as she tried to understand the difference between “big boss” and “boss.” James held out his hand. “Here, come with me.”

“Oh James, that’s probably not a good idea.”

“Don’t listen to Cat, Kara. She loves Lori.”

“Oh,” Lori said, jumping off the desk. “I remember her. I like her!”

Kara shook her head. “It’s your funeral” – then out the door – “Casady!”

_“Danvers!” Kara hurried into Snapper’s office at the call._

_“Shut the door,” he commanded in his always-gruff voice. She rocked on her heels waiting in silence for him to finish the article he was reading over. He slapped it on his desk and regarded her over the top of his glasses. He huffed. “I’m leaving.”_

_Kara’s mouth fell open. “Shut your trap if you have nothing to say, Danvers. It’s open enough with all your yapping.”_

_Kara snapped her teeth together. Snapper had become such a staple in her life since he became her boss. He made her into the credible journalist she had become despite their difficult beginnings. She could not think of another editor-in-chief to head up CatCo news as he had._

_“We’ve had a time Danvers, you and I.”_

_“Are you getting sentimental on me, Snapper?” Kara questioned, a little more playful than she had dared before. _

_He glared at her and she stopped talking. “I’m explaining a decision that I can still go back on.”_

_It was a warning. For what, Kara did not know but she wanted to find out. He nodded and continued, “You were a mess when you first came here but you proved me wrong. You’re not a rookie anymore. You’re a journalist. And a damn good one at that.”_

_Kara preened. Any sort of compliment from Snapper was something she grasped on to; they were few and far between so she knew he was always serious._

_He ignored her reaction and kept going, face stoic. “I want you to replace me.”_

_Kara blanched, her mouth falling open again. _

_“_ _Danvers, speak or –“_

_“You want me to be editor? I mean, I’m a reporter. Am I even qualified for that?”_

_“Why do you think I’ve made you my assistant these last few months?”_

_“What?”_

_“I don’t give everyone part of my own work. I was teaching you.”_

_Kara’s eyes widened. She had not realized he had considered her his assistant. “I thought you were just being hard on me.”_

_“I do my job, Danvers. I’m respected for doing so.”_

_“Of course, yes,” Kara fumbled._

_“Besides, you’re already in Cat’s good books which is necessary for this to run smoothly.” They both remembered the rocky ground that existed between Cat and Carr before they finally found common ground._

_Kara felt her body begin to tremble with excitement. “You really want me to have your job?”_

_Snapper gestured roughly around. “Welcome to your new office.”_

_Kara took a step forward but Snapper but a hand out to stop her. “I am not Cat Grant. We do not hug.”_

_Even that could not get Kara down and she was dismissed to her desk, a beaming smile stuck on her face for the rest of the day._

_“I can’t do this!” Kara was panicking, pacing her apartment. Krypto was looking up at her, following her every movement. “Why does he think I can do this?”_

_“Kara,” Alex tried. Kara passed her sister, seated on the couch._

_“This is absolutely crazy. Why would he do this? I have no idea what I’m doing!” The door clicked open and Alex sighed. Kara ignored it and kept walking back and forth. “I don’t know where to begin. Why didn’t they give me any warning? You don’t just dump that on a person.”_

_Lena had stopped just inside the door and looked quizzically at Alex. “Maybe you can stop your fiancé before she treads a rut in the floor because I haven’t been able to.”_

_Kara was muttering to herself. As soon as she had left CatCo, her elation dissipated and she was filled with fear and bubbling insecurity._

_Lena had slowly taken off her jacket and set her purse down. She kicked off her shoes and watched Kara for a few cycles of pacing. Kara could feel her watching even though she was not looking at her and refused to make eye contact. Lena tried as Alex had but it just spurred Kara on. “Let me repeat. I have no idea what I’m doing. I want to be a reporter. Not an editor. I can’t be stuck in an office. Now now. I can’t believe this is happening. I’m not ready. There’s no way I can –“_

_“Don’t you even think about it,” Lena ordered in a voice that was usually reserved for L-Corp. It was enough to stop Kara in her tracks and Alex mumbled, “Finally.”_

_Incredulity was written on Lena’s face. “I’m trying to imagine what I know about your life and where an ‘I can’t’ has fit in. It never has. That’s always been something I’ve admired about you. You never let anything stop you. You fight for what you want. It took you so long to build the relationship you wanted with Snapper and you never let anything he said stop you from believing in yourself. Now, he’s offering you this amazing opportunity, still working for the company you love. And if you don’t actually want the job, then that’s perfectly acceptable. But, I never want to hear you say you can’t do the job because you have the ability to do whatever you want. You’ve proven that time and time again. I won’t stand to hear that from you.”_

_There were a few beats of silence as Kara tried to figure out what to do but Alex was first. “See, I knew Lena had the power. But seriously, is the crisis over because all I asked was whether we should order pizza or not.”_

_Kara shrugged. “I don’t know.”_

_“You don’t know whether you want pizza or not?”_

_“No, I don’t know if I want this job or not.” _

_Lena leaned against the counter and Alex stood up while Kara had a silent war with herself. Being a reporter was incredibly important and fulfilling. It was how she made a difference when she was not being Supergirl. It was how she showed National City the truth. She did not know how she was supposed to do that when she was stuck in an office, reading the work of people who went out in her place. “I don’t know if I have a choice.”_

_“You never just have to take –“_

_“That’s not necessarily true.”_

_Alex rolled her eyes. “They can’t force you to take it.”_

_Kara tilted her head to the side. “You do know of the woman named Cat Grant, right?”_

_“That woman would never make you do it if you didn’t want to. Like with your old job. She didn’t force you to be a reporter. She let you choose yourself.”_

_Kara felt herself blush a little and eye Lena who had an amused yet wondering look on her face. “Me?”_

_Kara nodded and Alex looked between them. “I missed something.”_

_Kara played with the bottom of her shirt. “Lena is the one who made me realize I wanted to be a reporter.”_

_“I didn’t realize I had that much of an impact. But, Cat knew from the beginning. That’s the woman you should talk to. She seems to be able to inspire you no matter what she says.”_

_Kara looked up, doe-eyed at Lena. “Hey, you inspire me too.”_

_Lena smiled sweetly but the moment was broken by Alex gagging. Kara slapped her arm, hard enough for Alex to mouth, “owww,” but definitely not hard enough to do anything but sting. Alex laughed. “I can’t believe you two fell in love and now I’m going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life. At least Maggie and I have the decency to keep the lovey eyes to ourselves. You guys are just too…”_

_“What? You lost your train of thought trying to insult us?” Kara asked smugly._

_Alex shook her head. “No. Maggie and I are totally gross but you stopped thinking about the problem, didn’t you?”_

_Kara groaned. “For two seconds until you reminded me”_

_“But it worked.” Alex walked to the kitchen. “I know Lena’s here but I was here first and we were gonna get pizza so that’s what I’m gonna do.”_

_“Lena lives here,” Kara pointed out._

_“I wasn’t kicking her out.”_

_“Don’t worry about me.” Lena smiled and left a kiss on Kara’s cheek. “Talk to Cat tomorrow. I’m going to finish up some work in the bedroom. You guys do sister night.”_

_Of course that did not last long and Kara dragged Lena out of the bedroom halfway through the first movie to snuggle on the couch. Alex grunted faux displeasure but just pulled the blanket more onto herself as Kara dragged her fingers through Lena’s hair._

_Cat said the only thing Cat would ever say, “Obviously you should take the job. Who do you think pushed Snapper Carr in that direction? But it you really don’t want it, I suppose I won’t hold that against you.”_

_So a week later, Kara found herself entering a now empty office that she had entered many times before. She set her small box of belongings down. It did not feel like hers yet. When the reporters started milling in, she realized that the team was now hers as well and she did not have a moment's rest for the entirety of the day as she tried to figure out what in the name of Rao she was doing._

Kara looked at the clock and then looked around the office, realizing James and Lori had never returned. It had been over twenty minutes. Casady has finally rushed in and Kara had spent Lori’s absence editing. The reporter was young and reminded Kara a little bit of herself but he really needed to learn to proofread. She grabbed the papers and threw them on his desk as she went to find her daughter. “Do better. I’m not your eighth grade English teacher.”

She zoned her hearing in and heard Lori’s high-pitched giggling that always sounded more like squeals. Kara picked up her pace when she realized the noise was coming from Cat Grant’s office. The scene enveloping before her stopped her in the doorway. “Lorelai Astra Luthor.”

Lorelai Astra El Luthor was Lori’s full name, but Kara could not very well go around yelling El at her daughter if she wanted to keep any secrets. Everyone in the room froze when they heard Kara speak. Lori’s eyes widened at the sound of her mother’s angry voice and Cat and James looked like they had both been caught doing something embarrassing.

Lori was standing on Cat’s desk, holding onto Cat’s hands as they danced to nothing while James threw M&Ms in the air to see if Lori could catch them in her mouth. The M&M that was mid-throw rattled to a stop on the desktop.

Cat broke the silence, clearing her throat, straightening up and brushing off her jacket. Kara stared at her with something like awe on her face to see the woman who shaped her, being anything less than professional in the office. Lori jumped off the desk and ran to Kara, who took her under her arm without removing her eyes from Cat. Cat on the other hand was looking at her desk as if she remembered that there was something important she was doing. James picked up and popped the stray candy into his mouth. “Come on, Lori, let’s go back to your mom’s office.”

Kara crossed her arms once they had left, waiting for Cat to give some explanation but the woman did not speak.

“Wait until this gets out.”

“I will have your heads!” Cat yelled out the door in the tone she used to threaten everyone who worked there. Everyone but the interns were used to it and no one stopped their business to react. Cat smiled at Kara and shrugged. “She charmed me. Just like her mother did.”

Cat waved her off. “Tell Olsen those layouts are fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
Alex.te - Aunt Alex  
is'kal - baby girl


	5. Chapter 5

“She’s –“

“Momma!” Lori pushed the heavy oak doors open with all her strength, sending them flying before she herself flew, not literally, into the office.

Sophie watched. “At least I was gonna say free.”

Kara mouthed “sorry” at her before following her daughter into the office. Sophie was the newest assistant. Ever since Jess left, there had been a rotation. Lena could not find anyone who did the job as well as Jess but being an assistant had not been what Jess wanted to spend her life doing. Lena had found her a job in the R&D Department. Kara had thought about getting her transferred to the El Department more specifically, but Lena thought their best work would be done with people who knew the most about alien life. Jess knew nothing so she was left where she was.

Alana, Bryce, Hector, Courtney. They each came and went, leaving Lena unsatisfied with their work. Sophie had stayed the longest of them all and she was nice. Kara hoped she stayed on.

“No, you don’t,” Lena was saying as Lori tried to scramble up the balcony wall to sit on top of it. She caught her mid-climb and set her back on the ground.

“Hey, babe,” Kara said, leaning in to kiss Lena hello.

“Are you gonna tell momm-?”

Kara’s head swiveled to the side when the sound of sirens reached her. Lori looked off in the same direction. Lena could not hear but she had known Kara long enough to know what was going on. Kara was already unbuttoning her shirt. “I’ve gotta go.”

She ripped the rest of her clothes off to reveal the suit, leaving them on the balcony. Lori waved at her as she took off.

“Supergirl, I have a conference call in one hour!”

“I’ll see you at home!” Kara yelled back before she was out of earshot.

It was later than she expected to be dragging herself home and she found most of the lights off and Lena in bed, glasses low on her nose, reading from her tablet. She leaned against the doorframe. “Hey.”

Lena looked up, aggravated, and sighed at Kara’s look of bewilderment. “I know it’s not your fault but Sophie isn’t a babysitter and I really did have a conference call.”

Kara sat on the edge of the bed nearest Lena. “Sorry. There was nothing else I could do.”

“I’m going to have to start paying that girl more,” was Lena’s solution.

Kara patted her leg. “Did you put Lori to bed?”

“Yes.”

Kara stood up. “I want to check on her before –“

“No, you smell like smoke. It’ll wake her up. You know that.”

“I know how to get her to go back to sleep.” Kara thought it was obvious.

Lena pursed her lips. “No, you’re not doing that.”

“Lena, come –“

“I’m serious. I’m not comfortable with that. It happened once and that’s the end of it.” There had been a night where Lori was having night terrors and growing pains and nothing could get her to calm down. Kara had wrapped her tightly in a blanket and lifted up into the sky to hover above the city. Without the sounds overwhelming her and with the cool air on her face, Lori calmed and fells asleep almost instantly. She slept fine the rest of the night.

“But it helps.”

“You can get her to sleep by not waking her up in the first place,” Lena stated. She was adamant, not soon to change her stance.

Kara rubbed her temples. “Lena, it’s just as much a part of her as it is of me.”

“And when she’s older and can understand the consequences, she can choose for herself.”

“She wants it now,” Kara argued.

“She’s three. She doesn’t get to make her own decisions yet,” Lena said, turning her attention back to the screen in front of her. And that was the end of that conversation.

Kara’s fist slammed into the concrete, breaking it to pieces. Again and again and again. She wished she could have gone away to the garage. It was still there; she didn't know how. But then she would have questions to answer to and she wanted to avoid that. Of course, being at the DEO meant Alex and that meant Kara could not hide.

It was not anything like rage; she had felt that very clearly before. It was frustration and aggravation and she was trying to get it out. The concrete was not stable enough for all of it. She did not notice Alex standing in the corner with one hand on her hip at first, but eventually she heard her. One last punch and she twirled on the spot, her cape spiraling out behind her.

“What’s going on?”

Kara shrugged, brushing her hands of the dust. “Training.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you’re going with? Since when have you voluntarily trained?”

“Well, I’m the only one around here allowed to so I might as well,” she said, collapsing against the metal stairway.

Alex looked around and pointed at the ground. “You don’t actually mean this building right. Because I’m su-“

“Lena won’t let Lori use her powers.” Kara sighed. Alex sat next to her and bumped their shoulders together. Kara wrung her hands. “I don’t get it. She should be trained and taught how to use them correctly so they don’t come out accidentally.”

“Kara, you and Lori have been here every week. Lena doesn’t have a problem with that. She is letting her.”

Kara’s head hung, her eyes between her feet. “She won’t let her fly.”

“Ah,” was all Alex said.

Kara furiously grabbed at the railing, bending it under her hands and yelled, “I don’t get it! I don’t get how she could do this!”

Alex put a hand on her arm. “Kara, she’s worried. She doesn’t want Lori to get hurt.”

“And you think I do?” Kara spit out.

Alex shook her head. “I didn’t say that. She’s just being cautious. She’s nervous about it all. It’s obvious why.”

“But I know how that feels. I know what Lori is feeling. Being told you can’t do something that is a part of you. And flying…Alex,” Kara said, her breath leaving her, “flying is like nothing else. It’s the best part of all of this. I want Lori to know what that is like. She deserves that.”

“You do know how that feels. And I’m sorry you had to keep everything hidden but mom and dad were only trying to keep you safe. You know how people react. You’ve experienced it first hand. Lena knows too. She’s just as mixed up in it all. She’s protective of Lori –“

“So am I! But heat vision is okay? Our daughter burning holes in rocks with her eyes is fine but flying Is completely off-limits?” Kara huffed.

“You know what happens when people learn how to fly?” Kara looked at Alex awaiting an answer. “They leave.”

They had been toying with the idea of a babysitter or a daycare but had not settled on anything. Lena had once suggested funding an alien daycare but there was still too much prejudice for it to go over well. Kara was also concerned that parents would not trust it and in the end, Lena dropped the proposal. Both of them were too worried about what would happen if Lori did something or said something to tip people off. They were worried about her being found out as Kryptonian. They were worried about the Supergirl secret and what it would mean for the safety of their daughter. It was how it had always been with the secret but this specific situation held much more depth. Kara was not sure what she would do if Lori was used against her but none of it seemed to match up with the Supergirl motto. There would be no negotiations.

So, that is why Winn was sitting on the floor of the DEO across from Lori with a chessboard between them. “She’s just too good. I can’t win.”

“Do you even know how to play chess?” Kara asked him.

He shook his head. “No, but she’s teaching me.”

Lori snickered.

“I’m sure she is.”

Winn looked offended. “Have you been cheating?”

She just laughed and gave Winn what looked like a bone-crushing hug before taking hold of Kara’s hand. “Are you ready to go?”

Lori nodded. “Did you bring Ehl-Ehl?”

It was repetitive Kryptonian but once Lori had named the stuffed bear that, there was no going back. It did not make much sense in English either, “Sun Star,” but she loved it and who was Kara to tell her that it was wrong. Kids named their stuffed animals the weirdest thing all the time; this did not even make the list. “Of course I did. It’s in your bag over there. Why don’t you go get it?”

Kara sighed into the railing next to Alex. “She has been talking none stop about her sleepover at Alex.te and Aunt Maggie’s for days.”

“We’re excited to have her,” Alex said, smiling, watching Lori drag her bag across the floor.

Kara crossed her arms. “Are you sure about that?”

“We’ve had her before. It’ll be great.”

Kara pushed off the railing. “That’s not exactly what I meant when I said go get your bag. Now it’s all dirty.”

Lori did not look like she cared either way so Kara bent down to pick her up. “Come give Jeju kisses before you go.”

As soon as Lori was in her arms, Kara began the onslaught and kissed every inch of Lori’s face while she laughed and tried to pull away. “Jeju! You’re giving _me_ kisses.”

“I’m sorry. You turn.”

Lori wrapped her arms around Kara’s neck. “Wait, how do I get to give momma kisses?”

“You gave her kisses before you left today,” Kara told her.

Lori put a finger to her head. “Oh, yeah. You’re right. I did.”

“Ukiem khap rip.”

“Ukiem khap rip, Jeju.”

Alex took her hand to lead her to the elevator.

“Lori?”

Lori turned back. Kara gave her the sternest look she could muster. “Don’t give them too much trouble.”

A wide smile broke out across Lori’s face and she nodded. Alex and Maggie were going to have their hands full.

They were in mid-argument and without Lori in the house, their voices had risen above the usual levels they allowed. “She needs to fly, Lena!”

“She’s not ready.”

“She’s been ready for a while. You’re not ready. You just won’t accept that. it’s a part of her and eventually you aren’t going to be able to stop it.”

“The first twelve years of your life on Earth, you did a pretty good job at it.” It was snide and it was harsh but Kara swallowed it down because she understood what Lena was saying.

“I’m not gonna sit around until she’s twenty-two, watching her yearn for something and never allowing her to have it. This isn’t something that’s going to hurt her. It’s something amazing.”

Lena said nothing but a vexed noise sounded from her throat. Kara brought her tone back to normal, softening when she remembered what Alex said. She was also concerned about what this amount of stress could do to the pregnancy. “My sister told me something today that I hadn’t thought about.”

“And what’s that?” Lena said, still obviously annoyed. She was not one to back down easily.

“She told me you were being protective and you were scared. And then she said that when people learn how to fly, they leave.”

Lena let silence sit between them.”

“We’re not going anywhere, Lena. Rao we’re having another baby. I thought you understood that by now. I’m never leaving you. And Lori isn’t going anywhere. She loves you so, so, so much. It’s unfathomable.”

“That’s not the leaving I’m worried about,” Lena whispered. “I have to watch you go out there and risk your life every day and you know what, I signed up for that. I fell in love with you and knew what I was getting into. That doesn’t mean I don’t worry every time you leave or when you don’t call, but that’s the person I fell in love with. If you didn’t do that, you wouldn’t be you. I can’t take that from you because then who would I be? And whom would that make you? I love that part of you.”

“And I see that look,” Lena said in response to the frown on Kara’s face. “I love that Lori is half-Kryptonian because she’s half you. But she didn’t come into my life already saving the world. And the thought” – Lena’s voice cracked – “the thought that…”

She trailed off, wiping water from her eyes before it fell. Kara did not say anything. She did not even try to touch and comfort Lena. She wanted to know what the ending was. Lena laughed through the sadness, trying to lighten up what she was divulging but it did not work. “The thought that I could lose you is unbearable and it’s a thought I have had every day since learning that you are Supergirl. And there’s a possibility that that could happen one day. I try not to think about it but it’s always there when I see you run off in that red cape.”

“Flying is the last step, Kara. And if she starts to fly…I don’t want Lori to feel like I’m ashamed of her or who she is and what she can do. But, losing her would be unendurable. And losing the both of you,” she paused, the words stuck in her throat,” I’d lose myself.”

As soon as the door opened, Lori was in front of Lena, touching her stomach. Lena chuckled. “Did you have fun?”

“Lots! But he’s happy I’m back.”

“Hey, Kara, can I have a word really quick?” Maggie ushered her in the apartment while Alex stayed outside with Lena and Lori. Maggie was pacing a little bit.

“What’s up?”

“That girl knows more than she lets on.”

Kara pursed her lips. “What do you mean?”

“When she’s here she just talks and talks and never stops and she’s heard some things I don’t think you’ve wanted her to hear. Like how Lena thinks she’s going to lose you both.”

“She said that?” Kara asked.

“She actually said ‘Momma thinks Jeju and I are gonna die.’” Maggie did not quite pronounce the Kryptonian correctly but Kara still understood. All of the air left her lungs. Lori could not know that because Lena had never said it until the night before and Lori had not been home.

“I know kids just say things but that was a lot to hear. And she said it like it was nothing, just another fact of life. It was so nonchalant.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Kara said through clenched teeth. Kara’s face was grave when she exited and everyone could pick upon the tension.

Lori tugged her hand. “It’s okay, Jeju.”

Kara forced a smile and gave Lena a look that meant, “I’ll tell you later.”

“Chahv’kir, come here for a moment.” She hears Lori’s feet padding from the bedroom. She was sitting next to Lena on the couch. Kara had told her everything. Lena’s reaction to what Lori had said was a gasp and an increase in heart rate but she agreed they had to find out what was going on. But, they decided not to tell anyone else yet. They did not want to panic prematurely when it could turn out to be nothing. Lori was extremely smart and perceptive; she could infer. The solution might just be that they had to be more careful with what they said around her.

Lori was smiling until she saw them on the couch and then became cautious. Kara motioned. “Come here.”

Lori hopped up on the couch between them. “Am I in trouble?”

Lena laughed softly, kissing Lori’s head. “Of course not, sweetheart. We just wanted to ask you something.”

Kara nudged her so she would turn her head. “Do you know what I’m thinking right now?”

The little girl’s face scrunched up in concentration. Her eyes narrowed and her forehead crinkled. All of a sudden she let out a big breath and said sadly, “I can’t do it.”

“It’s okay.” Kara smiled with reassurance.

Lori swung her feet. “I didn’t know you could do that. I want to do it if you can do it.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I can’t do it.” Lori smiled at the revelation. “But, can you tell me what momma’s thinking?”

She was confused and looked back and forth between Kara and Lena. Lena rubbed her back. “Can you?”

Lori smiled and jumped up. “That’s a silly question. Of course I can!”

She danced around in front of them. Kara was tentative. “Can you tell us?”

Lori stopped moving. “She’s very worried. She doesn’t know why I know what she’s thinking but I don’t know what you’re thinking. I don’t know why either though.”

Lori shrugged. Lena nodded that she was right.

“Do you always know what momma’s thinking?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Lori tilted her head to the side. “I don’t have to listen but sometimes it's just a lot of feeling and I can’t help that. Like whenever Jeju does her job, I start feeling willy –“

“Really,” Lena said. It was an automatic response.

“Really.” Lori nodded but frowned. “I don’t know the word. I feel itchy and I want you back right away. I don’t know why though because I’m happy and then I’m not.”

“Is that all?” Kara asked trying to follow the logic of whatever connection existed between the two. Lena looked frightened by it, her smile was small and quivering. Lori shook her head.

“No. It happens other times too. I feel sad sometimes when I shouldn’t and I don’t know why. When I was at Alex.te’s, Maggie was chasing me around and then I just got really mad.” Her eyes fell to the floor and she whispered, ashamed, “And I broke something.

Maggie had left that part out probably to save Lori the lecture. “I know that’s bad but I didn’t mean to. I was having fun. I don’t know why I got mad. But then I got really sad and then…”

“Go on,” Kara urged her.

“Momma was thinking something that was really sad.”

“How did you know that?” Lena asked this time.

“Because I know what you sound like. I knew it was you.”

Lena looked like she was going to ask how again but Kara stopped her with a shake of her head. Lori did not know that other people could not feel the same thing; she would not understand how to explain it.

“Can I go play now?”

Kara kissed the top of her head. “Of course.”

“What are we going to do?” Lena asked when Lori left the room. She really did look scared and Kara pulled her into a hug. Her body was tense and not relaxing.

Kara stroke her hair. “It’ll be okay.”

“It’s not okay that she can feel what I feel, Kara.” Lena sat back. “There’s no need for her to be upset just because I am. That’s unfair to her.”

“I don’t know if she sees it that way,” Kara admitted. “But we don’t know anything about it.”

“Exactly, we don’t –” Lena cut herself off. She had started to raise her voice. “Sorry, I’m just being –“

“Defensive? I noticed,” Kara responded.

“I’m sorry. But we hadn’t even gotten past the flying and now this.”

“Why are you so stressed about this? You have this amazing connection to our daughter. We just have to find out exactly how it works.”

“It’s only one-way, Kara. I can’t feel what she feels or know what she’s thinking. And she shouldn’t be burdened with an adult’s problems,” Lena explained. “She should be able to just be a kid.”

Lena had never had an actual childhood; it was filled with expectations and priorities and lessons on how to be a Luthor. Kara understood that. She could not say that her own childhood had been anywhere near normal but the Danvers had at least tried to let her be a normal kid. They spent most of their time doing just that. But Lori’s life was nothing like either of their experiences. She seemed ecstatic to know what Lena was thinking. Kara supposed Lena could not see past her own past.

“Not to burst your bubble but Lori was never going to be able to just be a kid. If you hadn’t noticed" - Kara smiled, trying to ease Lena’s tension – “she’s half alien.”

It worked. Lena visibly relaxed. Kara kissed her temple. “I know you like to try, but this isn’t something you can control. You have to let it play out. It is what it is.”

“Have you ever known me to go with the flow?” she asked.

Kara’s shoulders rose to her ears. “First time for everything?”

Lena sighed heavily, making a decision. “We’ll give it some time. See if we can’t figure it out on our own. I don’t want her to be subjected to another test because I’m worried over it. But if we don’t find out what is, we have to do something.”

Kara placed her hand over Lena’s. “We’ll meet that if it comes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
Ukiem khap rip - I love you


	6. Chapter 6

“I picked up the flowers so we don’t have to stop.”

Alex nodded as she climbed into the car. Her eyes were distant, already zoning out. Kara reached over and grabbed her hand. Alex looked down, surprised by the touch before recognition dawned on her face and she looked to Kara. “I don’t go to visit enough.”

“No one’s keeping track.” Kara put the car in drive, pulling out onto the street. “Eliza isn’t coming?”

“She said she would later. I think she wants to go alone.”

“I shouldn’t ha – did you want to - ?”

“No” – Alex attempted a smile – “we always go together.”

Kara did not respond and there were a few moments of silence as Kara drove away from Alex’s apartment. “How’s Lena doing? Her last checkup went well but - ”

“You don’t have to do that,” Kara assured her. Alex attempted small talk each time and every time she ended up drawing into herself, leaving questions half-way spoken. Alex nodded in agreement and turned her head to look out the window. The rest of the ride was silent. It usually was. There was not much to say to each other; they had talked it all out over the years.

It was a gray sky kind of day. It always seemed to be. Like the universe understood. Kara pulled the car past the stone pillars and through the open gate. The road was barely wide enough for two cars and wound through the grounds. Kara pulled to the side under the low hanging branches of a large maple tree that indicated their parking spot. She turned the car off, got out and waited. Alex always needed a minute or two before she got out of the car.

Kara waited for her in the cool breeze, pulling her jacket tighter to herself out of habit. She only noticed what she had done when Alex gave her a weird look over the top of the car as she got out. Kara shrugged.

They walked through the grounds, between the rows and finally came to a stop. The inscription was still as clear as the day it had been carved. Kara handed the bouquet to Alex who bent down and laid them in front of the stone. She kissed her hand and touched the top before stepping back in line with Kara. “I don’t come nearly often enough and I still don’t know what to say.”

Kara could feel the anxiousness rolling off of her sister. She pulled her into a tight hug. She understood the feeling well enough. Talking to the projection of her mother was just like talking to stone. They still had a room at the DEO for that purpose, but Kara’s visits had become almost nonexistent. She had come to terms with the fact that it was never going to satisfy her and she would never get the answers she wanted. But, she peeked in sometimes out of a sense of obligation and duty to her actual mother.

Jeremiah’s death was the first time Kara had ever witnessed one of the burial rites and ceremonies of Earth. On Krypton they mourned their dead and sent them to the stars, only to be remembered in memory. But on Earth, people kept their loved ones with them, right under foot to visit whenever they liked. Kara might not understand the rite but she respected the choice that Eliza and Alex had made. She understood how it could be comforting and that it was the familiar way of doing things. She understood that Earth did not have the resources necessary to do anything along the lines of a Kryptonian funeral and she understood that when or if she died, she would not follow in the path of her ancestors.

Astra received the hero’s send off that she deserved while Allura and Zor-El did not. All three of them had faults but also values and each one of them did what they thought was right to save their people. The rules were already jumbled from what they should have been. Kara did not know if any of them were living in Rao’s light as she had been taught they all would. Kara did not know if she herself deserved that fate or not and though Rao’s teaching never alighted on her situation, she hoped that if she was buried on Earth as she assumed would happen, that she would have the chance to reach that fate. It was something she had not brought up with anyone before. Alex refused to talk about death as such unless it was imminent. Lena was already worried too much about losing her for her to leave the conversation sane. And Kara was never certain of what she would feel comfortable talking to Kal-El about.

He had stayed good to his word. Kal had been more involved with her life than he had in the first twelve years she had been on Earth. And he had apologized more than once over the years to try to make up for his failure in taking care of her. She may have missed his and Lois’ wedding but she was there when Jonathan Samuel Lane Kent was born. Lena joked that while the “L” was a Luthor tradition, the ridiculously long names were now an El tradition.

Kal was much more of a human than Kara ever was or would be. It still sometimes took him a while to respond when she used Kal instead of Clark. No one had called him that for so many years and he had gotten used to being a Kent. He also did not use their last name as she did. And when he married Lois, he dropped down on one knee and gave her a ring. He did not meditate or take a moment for a prayer to Rao. She knew he thought that one day he would die a natural death even though he had seen those around him age as he stayed as young as ever. He intended to be buried in the ground, right next to Lois, without question to whether it meant anything to any higher power.

“Bye, dad.” Alex’s words brought Kara out her trance. The world came back alive to her senses. Alex looked at her. “You ready?”

Kara nodded at Alex and then nodded at the headstone. She never said anything. It was another honor she was not sure she deserved. Though not directly responsible for Jeremiah’s death, she was the incendiary object that started the fire. Her presence is why he was ultimately recruited by the DEO, why he went missing in the first place and why he felt he needed to align himself with Cadmus. She questioned it a lot, Eliza and Alex repeatedly telling her she had nothing to be guilty about until she realized her self-concern was taking away from their ability to grieve for him. And so she had relinquished the quest for absolution for his death, for the first time finding her own power to stop reprimanding herself for something her parents’ decision caused.

Kara turned the key in the ignition.

“I don’t think I’m coming back.”

Kara’s head swiveled so fast to the side she might have been using super-speed. There was no doubt or uncertainty in Alex’s face. It was the first time that she seemed focused and clear after a trip to the cemetery. “You don’t have to decide that now.”

“I do. It’s time. For me.”

Kara stayed silent, putting the car in reverse. She was not going to try to talk Alex out of the decision or tell her that she was making the right one. There was no right or wrong.

“You wanna know why,” Alex stated knowingly.

“I do.”

She sighed, keeping her gaze out the windshield, watching the entrance pillars pass. “He’s not here. Physically, I mean. I don’t have to come here to say what I want to say to him. What it is is an excuse to make me talk with him when I don’t know if I want to. I don’t have anything to say and he can’t say anything back. And maybe he is still here somehow. But, I don’t know if I believe in that.”

“You believe in something.”

“I believe in the present and in science and in the vague notion that something started it all. I mean I grew up, knowing aliens exist. Nothing is really out of the question at this point.”

“You’re family has a faith. Eliza told me about it when we were younger.”

“I’m Jewish by descent, Kara, not by practice. I don’t think I’ve ever stepped foot in a temple and I know for certain that you never did. For god’s sake, we celebrate Christmas.”

“Not religiously.”

“But we do it.” She paused before continuing. “You have more faith than I do.”

“My adherence to the importance of Christmas isn’t in the capacity of faith. Christmas is fun and happy and I get to give presents to people and there’s a tree inside and everything’s sparkly and fun.”

That drew a small, quiet laugh from Alex. “I didn’t mean to Christmas.”

“There’s no real comparison but Jewish tradition is much more along the lines of how we worshipped on Krypton than Christianity is."

"Or to Hanukah or any of the religions on Earth.”

Kara shrugged. “Rao is the guiding light. Without him, nothing would be.”

But there was a sincere difference between her belief in Rao and the most of the beliefs of humans. Rao was a sun god. He was the red sun that gave Krypton and the surrounding planets their existence. When she said, “nothing would be,” that was simply a quotation because Earth would exist without Rao. It existed by the light of the yellow sun and if anyone on Earth was going to believe in anything, why couldn’t it be in the personification of the one thing that sustains life?

She had mentioned this theory to Alex many times before and even though she didn’t say it outright, Alex still responded as she always did. “And our sun is just an exploding star that one day, in however many years, will die out and then so will we and then Earth as we know it, will be non-existent.”

“Krypton is dead now. But Rao still burns bright. I haven’t lost my belief in Rao because my home was destroyed. That was a thing out of Rao’s hands, brought upon the planet by its inhabitants because of greed and pride.” It was the harsh reality that she had come to accept a long time ago but she could see how discussing it with such offhandedness made Alex uncomfortable. Her sister was always waiting for Kara’s own implosion. “And not to be rude, Alex, but Earth is going to die a long time before its yellow sun disappears. Astra was right in her concern for the future of this planet. Wrong about how she went about it but correct in her prediction.”

“And I know that because of science.”

“Then you do have faith. Just because it isn’t in a deity, doesn’t mean it’s not faith. You believe in science and the work you do and you believe in me and whatever my destiny is,” she took her eyes off the road for a second to look at Alex, “And I have just as much faith in you as I do in anything else.”

“Can we not do this in the apartment?” Lena asked, looking up at Kara who was hovering with her head very near the ceiling.

Kara threw her arms out. “Well, we can’t do it outside.”

“I would think you’d want Winn to monitor her.”

Kara lowered to the floor. “I didn’t want that for her first time.”

“We don’t even know if she can fly,” Lena pointed out.

Kara looked greatly affronted. “She’s my daughter. She can fly.”

Lena chuckled. “If you say so. We do need to take our other little problem to Winn. I think it’s time.”

They had come no closer to figuring out what caused the connection between Lori and Lena. Her call to Kal had come up fruitless. He said that nothing like that had ever occurred between Jon and Lois. Lena had wanted to develop something using Kryptonian technology that could monitor brainwave discrepancies but the El Department was nowhere near close to having that type of ability.

“We will, okay? But today is not a time to worry about that." Kara beamed, “Lori’s gonna fly!”

Lena opened her mouth to say something but Kara cut her off, landing back down on the ground. “Yes, I know. Not in the apartment. Let’s go out of the city. We can go to the old DEO base. It’s in the middle of the desert. We won’t be seen.”

Lena looked her up and down. “This is just an excuse to see Lucy, isn’t it?”

“Pfft, what? Who’s Lucy?” But Kara was smiling with the thought of seeing a friend she hadn’t seen in a while.

Lena refused to fly so it took them much longer than necessary to reach the base. Without the heads up, they were put through a ton of security until Kara could prove who she was since hadn’t worn the suit. It didn’t take long before the guards were ushering her in. “It’s an honor to meet you Supergirl.”

Nothing had changed. It was exactly how Kara remembered it. It was where she became Supergirl. The nostalgia hit her hard but she still did not miss the commute and she did not want to give up the view.

“Kara Danvers.”

A woman with shoulder-length black hair walked into view. “Lucy Lane.”

After a second of what seemed like a standoff, they both laughed and hugged each other. Lucy squeezed Kara tightly as she always did. A Lucy Lane hug would probably have been just as dangerous as Kara hug if Kara was not built of sturdier stuff.

Lori was being held by Lena and Kara could hear them whispering. “Do you remember Lucy? She brought you your cape.”

“The purple one?”

Kara wanted to laugh. Lori only had one cape. Lena had been hesitant with it at first even though it was just a toy; the fabric was not more than a sheet. But as soon as she saw Lori running through the apartment, the purple cape billowing out behind her, she did not seem to mind. It was cute and Lori had said, “I want to be like Jeju.”

Lori did not know exactly what that meant or entailed but Kara loved it and Lena loved them being happy.

“Go say hi,” Lena said, setting Lori on the ground.

To be fair, Lori did not see Lucy very often so her caution was warranted. Lucy squatted down and smiled, breaking down the barrier and Lori walked toward her. “Hi, Lucy.”

“Hi, Lori.”

“Can I hug you?” Lori asked. It was an unusual question for the little girl who usually jumped on top of people. Lucy stretched her arms out to embrace Lori.

She stood back up. “You don’t have to ask to hug me.”

Lori pointed at the holster on her waist. “That’s the thing Alex.te wears and she told me that I can’t hug people when they’re wearing it. She said I have to ask first.

Kara had not known Alex had taught Lori that and apparently neither had Lena by the look on her face but she showed her appreciation with a slight cock of her head. Lucy nodded. “Your Aunt Alex is very smart.”

Lori grabbed Lucy’s hand, all shyness gone in an instant, and pulled her along. The girl had no idea where she was going. “Did you know I’m gonna fly today?”

“I didn’t know that,” Lucy said, turning to look at Kara who was following.

“Don’t worry, we aren’t gonna break anything. We’re gonna go outside.”

“You should come.” Lori was swinging their arms and Lucy was trying to redirect her. Lori was not paying attention so it was not hard.

“Lucy probably has work to do, sweetheart,” Lena explained, offering Lucy a way out.

“I do” – she winked at Lori – “But I’d love to see you fly.”

Kara did not know what it was but Lori charmed everyone she met. Maggie told her to just look at who Lori’s mothers were and she would find the answer but Kara had not really understood. Most people were incapable of saying no to Lori, which got difficult once Lori realized she had that power. “Well, I don’t know if I can actually fly yet. But I’m gonna try!”

It was hot, the dust swirling around their shoes. Lori was still holding Lucy’s hand and Kara had her own arm around Lena’s waist. Lucy stopped. “Here should be good.”

Lori let go and jumped a few times, puffing up the dirt around her. Kara beckoned her over. “Zhgam ukep.”

“So how do you actually do it?” Lucy asked.

Kara shrugged. She didn’t know the mechanics of it; it was innate. “I don’t know. I just do. The first time I tried, when I was saving Alex on the plane, it took a couple tries. But, I just took a running jump and eventually took off.”

“You don’t know how to teach her then?" Lena asked. She did not sound perturbed, more interested in how everything worked. Kara halfway agreed with her. She would have to add it to something the El Department worked on: the mechanics of Kryptonian powers under a yellow sun.

“I can teach her after she gets it the first time.”

“I can do this,“ Lori added, pushing a couple inches off the ground. It was the hovering that she had done since birth. When Lena found her in bed one morning, not actually touching the sheets, Kara had dashed in right before her scream. She could have heard the stuttering heart from rooms away.

“That’s really good,” Kara encouraged. Kara pushed herself off the ground, hovering much higher than Lori with one leg bent like she always had; it made her feel more stable. Lori instantly mirrored her but then dropped to the ground. Kara floated down as well. Lori look disheartened. “I have an idea. Do you want to race?”

Lori’s face lit up at the mere idea of it. “I can beat you.”

“You’ve never beaten me before,” Kara egged her on.

“Maybe Barry would be a fairer opponent,” Lena offered with a smile.

Kara scoffed. “She’d leave him in the dust.”

She turned back to Lori. “We’re gonna race and when you feel like you’re going really fast, I want you to leap, okay?”

Kara knelt down. “Do you trust me?”

Lori looked nervous but she smiled. “Of course, Jeju.”

“Alright then. On your mark,” Lucy started and they readied themselves, “get set. Go!”

They dashed off, Kara monitoring her speed to be in line with Lori who was still slower than her. The continued training with Winn had definitely increased her speed though. If Lori actually took off, Kara knew she would not be able to control it so she wanted to be there to catch her. The first time Kara had done it, she had almost smashed right through the wall of buildings in the alley.

Lori’s face was full of concentration as she ran, her tongue between her teeth. When it looked like she had reached her peak, Kara jumped with her. Kara had thought correctly. Lori was like a rocket, taking off straight into the atmosphere. Kara easily caught her. Speed wise it was easy but Lori smashed into her like a boulder and she was knocked back a couple feet. Otherwise, they were both unharmed.

Kara returned them to the ground, Lori ecstatic that she had flown. Lena had a white-knuckled grip on Lucy’s arm. Lucy was scowling in pain but wasn’t cruel enough to removed Lena’s hand. Lori jumped up and down. “Again. Again!”

As the afternoon drug on, Lori was not gaining any control over her flying and was getting more dismayed at each attempt until she was no longer smiling when Kara caught her. Usually they returned immediately to the ground. Kara had an inkling that Lena wouldn’t be happy with her but she rose higher and flew slowly away. She wasn’t going to go too far, she kept changing directions to stay over the base. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere,” Kara answered and kept flying.

“Then what are we doing?”

“I don’t want you to be sad about flying.” Kara stopped, floating high above the ground.

Lori frowned. “But I can’t do it.”

“You can definitely do it,” Kara said, tapping her chest. “We just have to practice more.”

“But you didn’t have to practice,” Lori remembered.

Kara smiled. “Your powers are still growing. They aren’t perfect yet. I promise you that one day, you will be flying just like me.”

“Are you sure?”

Kara did not really know but she had a feeling that everything would be all right. “One hundred percent, kiddo.”

Lori wrapped her arms around Kara’s neck. “Thank you, Jeju.”

“For what?”

“For helping me fly.”

Kara nuzzled her with her nose and dropped to the ground. Lena was tense but she didn’t look mad. She carried Lori over to the two waiting women. Lucy, despite originally saying she had work to do, stayed the entire time. She smiled and high-fived Lori. “You did great today.”

“Thanks,” the little girl chirped from Kara’s arms. Lena had a look on her face that Kara could not distinguish. Knowing yet wary and happy yet concerned. She did not comment on Lori’s progress of lack thereof.

Lori was more exhausted that night than usual. She was normally hyperactive but stretching her limits was tiring; Kara could vouch. She pulled the covers up to Lori’s chin and kissed her forehead. Just as she was about to turn off the lights, Lori spoke, “Mommy’s not mad.”

“What?” Kara turned.

“She was really happy to see me fly.”

“She was?” Kara asked.

Lori nodded. “She's just…mom-scared.”

Kara laughed. “You’re too smart. You know that?”

“I wonder where she got that from?” Lena asked, reappearing in the doorway. Kara turned around and Lena was smiling comfortably.

Kara gestured toward her. “Obviously you.”

“Just because Earth is confusing to you doesn’t mean you can’t pretend you weren’t raised by scientists or that you now partly run a lab.”

Kara shrugged away the comment. She was becoming less and less uncomfortable with the disconnect between Kryptonian and Earth science ever since the El Department came into existence.

“Why didn’t you tell me all this stuff about mommy before?" She asked Lori.

Lori snuggled farther into her covers. “I thought you could hear her too.”

She yawned widely and Kara whispered, “I wish I could.”

Kara patted the covers. “Looks like it’s time for someone to get to sleep.”

“Ukiem rip, Jeju. Love you, mommy.” Kara and Lena said, “I love you,” at the same time and Kara flicked off the light, measuring the slowing, sleepy sound of her daughter’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
Zhgam ukep - Come here


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okey dokey so I was doing NaNoWriMo (it ended in failure but the attempt was made) which is why this hadn't been updated all last month. So, I'm trying to catch up a bit with writing this fic but here is the next chapter!

“Tell him.” Lena had made Kara promise before she left for work in the morning. She needed to understand and for weeks it was the only thing she thought about. She found herself distracted in board meetings and almost missing conference calls because she was too preoccupied thinking about whether her daughter could feel the level of stress she was under.

Sophie met her at the elevator with a sticky note filled with messages. “You have your meeting with the developer’s architect in an hour. Morgan Edge asked to meet you during lunch but I told him you were unavailable for the foreseeable future as you instructed. After that I believe a man from the accounting sector wanted to check in with you. He said it was urgent and you had a mostly free afternoon so I figured that would be fine. Then you have a meeting with the committee for the annual charity gala. And I got a call from a strange woman. She was asking for you. She said she knew I wouldn’t allow her to speak with you directly but to pass on her number and if you wished to return her call, then to do so when you were able to. I have her name here somewhere” - Sophie quickly checked the sticky note – “Ah, yes, Siobhan Byrne.”

The developer’s meeting was a new endeavor. Morgan Edge was a constant thorn in her side. The planning committee was a nuisance. But upon the last message, Lena froze, staring through Sophie. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Siobhan Byrne,” Sophie said, apprehensively.

It had been almost three years. Lena had mostly forgotten about it, giving up on even the slightest chance. The look on Lena’s face must not have been welcoming because Sophie stuttered, “I’m sorry, she actually did ask to have lunch with you at some time. But I didn’t even know if you wanted to call her or not so I didn’t mention it before.”

Lunch with Siobhan Byrne. Lena had never thought about it or considered it a possibility. She thanked Sophie with more curtness than she intended and shut the doors to her office. She sat at her desk chair, staring at the sticky note with the name and phone number that scared her to death. She didn’t know what she wanted at all; there was not a right or wrong answer to help her choose. It was completely up to her and Siobhan had left the next move in her hands.

Before she lost her nerve, she picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“Hello?” The voice that answered the phone was that of an older woman.

Lena cleared her throat. “Hello, is this Siobhan Byrne?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Hi, this is Lena Luthor. My assistant gave me your message. What day would work best for you?”

The rest of the day all happened in a haze. Her conversation with Siobhan Bryne had ended with a lunch scheduled but for Lena that was a major step that she never intended to actually take. Sophie said goodbye at the end of the day and Lena half-heartedly waved as she stepped into the elevator, almost forgetting to get off on the ground floor. Lorelai jumped on her as soon as she walked in the apartment door and instead of wrapping her arms around her like she usually did, Lena walked to the counter, Lorelai hanging on like a koala. She set her purse on the counter as Kara came around the corner, smiling as she always did when Lena came home.

“Hey, babe.” Kara pulled her in for a hello kiss and then laughed at Lori. “Are we still on for lunch on Thursday?”

Kara held up a piece of paper that was slightly scorched on the edges. “Barry wants to drop by and was wondering if he could this week?”

Their lunch dates had become once a week affairs but they had both wanted to keep up the tradition. It was how they started and they wanted to keep that. Lena’s mouth felt dry. “Um…”

“You okay?” Kara said, the crinkle between her eyes becoming apparent.

“Yeah, actually,” Lena said, shaking her head, trying to clear her head, “Um…I’m meeting my mother for lunch on Thursday.”

“You’re having lunch with your mother,” Kara asked incredulously.

She watched as Kara’s face went through varying degrees of confusion. First it was the fact that she was having lunch with her mother, which was something Lena had never done, even when she had first moved into the Luthor household. Secondly, it was remembering that Lillian had died an awful death, being burned to death when the wiring within Lex’s suit had gone awry. It was a memory Lena could never erase from her memory. And third, remembering that a few years ago, Lena had shown interest in finding her birth mother. She could not blame Kara from forgetting as she almost had herself; it was so long ago and such a long shot that she had not put much stock into it.

“And by mother you mean…”

Lena nodded to the unfinished question. “She called today. Out of the blue. I couldn’t bring myself to turn her down.”

Kara grasped her arms. “Why would you?”

“That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to not call her,” Lena explained. “But I also don’t know what she wants from me, so I was wasn’t sure if I should go or not.”

“What does that mean?”

Kara was wonderfully understanding but somehow still ignorant to the position that Lena’s stature put her in. This woman could be in it for the fame or the money. Lena could never be entirely sure when someone was going to ask for something of her and since she had not known of her mother’s existence, she could not be sure the woman had not also been following her and waiting until she thought it would be fruitful to strike.

“I just don’t want to be let down.”

She was sitting at the agreed upon restaurant. She had spoken in front of crowds, had survived many attempts on her life, yet here and now was the most nervous she had ever remembered being. She was wringing her hands under the table and kept putting off the waiter who was trying to take her drink order. Siobhan was late, not awfully late but late enough for Lena to start to worry that she would not show. She could have gotten scared off. It was scary enough to be meeting her biological mom, she could not imagine how it felt in reverse and the added pressure of the Luthor name would be enough to make anyone second-guess.

She was in a far back booth of a chain restaurant wearing a t-shirt and jeans. This wasn’t business and she would treat it as such. She knew herself well enough to know that if she had worn a work outfit or made a reservation at one of her usual restaurants, the entire conversation would flop. She would automatically assume the CEO role and Siobhan would be left feeling like nothing other than she was talked at for an hour. It was counterproductive. And still, Lena figured that how much she had thought about the logistics would come back to bite her in the end anyway. That was her streak of luck.

She hadn’t gone into L-Corp that morning and was not planning on going in after lunch either. She needed the entire day to process. Processing was not her strong suit but both her and Kara had promised to try better so that whatever they were dealing with would not build up and explode in an unnatural way as it had many times previously. She took comfort in the knowledge that she was doing even better than Kara in this area, something that Kara on the other hand fumed about. It probably was not as healthy as it could have been, turning it into a competition, but they managed better that way.

The restaurant was adequately busy enough for Lena’s liking. Busy enough to not be overheard but not too busy that they would not be able to hear without shouting. Every time the door opened, Lena’s head spun to see if the person in the doorway was recognizable. She realized that she still didn’t know what the woman looked like; the one phone call had been their only form of communication.

So a few minutes later when the hostess arrived at her table, a woman trailing behind her, Lena found herself looking at a stranger whom she recognized. Sharp, glinting green eyes and black as night hair. Almost as if she were looking in a mirror. She fumbled getting up, bumping into the table and knocking over the salt and pepper shaker as she reached out to shake Siobhan’s hand. Words were stuck in her throat. What was the appropriate greeting for this woman? "Hi" seemed too comfortable. "Hello" too formal. "Nice to meet you" just wrong. And "how are you" too familiar. So she settled for a shaky, “Please. Sit down.”

Siobhan did, sitting in the chair directly across from Lena, her hands placed in her lap. She smiled awkwardly, “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to say.”

“Me neither,” Lena returned, relieved.

“Good, then we’re both on the same page and we’ll figure it out together.” Together. The last time she heard that from her mother was when Lillian wanted her help to eradicate the aliens on Earth. Refreshing to hear it in a not so sinister way.

Lena finally allowed the waiter to bring them waters. She thought about alcohol to calm her nerves but she didn’t want to give the wrong impression to Siobhan.

“I want you to know,” Siobhan looked slightly fearful when she spoke, “I didn’t look you up. But I do know about you.”

“Because of my name,” Lena said stoically.”

Siobhan nodded, her hands grasping her glass. “It’s a hard name to not ever come across. But, I only know general things. I’ve never lived in either Metropolis or National City and to be quite honest, the news outside of those cities is not obsessed with you.”

Lena briefly chuckled at that. “That is good to know.”

She didn’t know if she was glad or not that Siobhan had not looked into her life but she did feel that the woman already respected her enough not to pry and in turn received Lena’s respect. The curiosity would have been too much for most people.

Siobhan cleared her throat. “I do want to get one thing out of the way. I didn’t show up randomly to make your life difficult or force my way into it. I am not trying to be your mother, you already had one of those.”

“That’s debatable,” Lena interjected.

“Even so, that’s not what I’m here for. I don’t really know what made me decide to reach out but I do know that neither of those things were my intentions. I didn’t have an agenda when asking you for lunch. We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to and I’m open to answering anything you want to know. I just want to make sure you know that I don’t want anything from you except to have an enjoyable lunch.”

Another flood of relief. Most people wanted something from Lena and that was the reason she supposed she’d be let down. Siobhan would show up to lunch and ask for money or for reputation or would lead Lena on for awhile before ruining everything. Lena could do this. She could meet this woman for lunch and talk. That was something she would agree to.

“Thank you.” Lena was worried about jumping in too fast but she was also worried she would never gain the courage if she waited. “I know this is fast, we haven’t even ordered food, but could you tell me why?”

She didn’t need to explain any further. The why of this situation was obvious. “I don’t think what I have to say will give you any of the answers you are looking for but I can do my best.”

Lena nodded.

“I don’t know why. I was young. I didn’t want a child and then I had one and I had to something to help you and to help me. And so I did what I thought best and sought after your father to see if maybe, on the slimmest chance, he’d agree to taking you. I never thought he would but he did.”

“If you knew my father how is it that you don’t know anything about me?”

Siobhan laughed. It wasn’t restrained like Lena’s and she wondered if she hadn’t grown up with the Luthors, if her laugh would be as carefree. “I didn’t know who your father was. Fake name. Fake job. I know now. I knew a number I’m sure has long since been disconnected and after he came to get you, I never had contact with him again.”

“And you never wanted to?”

“No.” Lena appreciated the blatant honesty. “Even if I did, you can see that there was no way for me to. I didn’t go through an agency; there was no paper trail for you.”

Lena had found that out very soon in her search for her birth mother. And she had never been able to find her. “How did you find me? I’ve been looking for you for years and nothing.”

“You might not believe this but it was in Lionel’s will.”

“For you to find me?” Lena questioned. It didn’t make sense. Lionel wasn’t a sentimental man.

“I’m sure it wasn’t in those words exactly. But after his death, I received a call from a lawyer telling me that if I ever wanted to get in contact with you to call him back. I didn’t for awhile as you can probably guess. I didn’t know what good that would do to be honest. Why complicate things?”

The waiter came over and they both ordered. Lena got a Caesar salad and the Siobhan ordered the steak fajitas. There was nothing funny about it but Lena started laughing. Siobhan looked at her as she handed the waiter her menu. “What?”

“That's just so normal.” Siobhan smiled as if she understood but Lena wasn’t sure she had. Either way, Lena didn’t want to get deeper into it. She had asked the questions that had prompted her for her search. The answers gladdened her. There was no grudge for this woman who knew she didn’t want a child and therefore, found the best way to deal with it. There was no way she could have known what the Luthors were like. Besides, as Siobhan said, why complicate things? Lena didn’t accept the lunch request so that she could berate the woman or find meanings in her life that were escaping her. She simply wanted to know the woman who had given birth to her.

They needed to move on. There needed to be an opening to something less heavy. And Lena had the perfect question. “Okay,” she leaned forward, “what’s my middle name?”

“That’s your question?”

“I’ve been lying to my wife for years. She thinks that I’m just being stubborn about her knowing but I don’t even know. So, what is it?”

Siobhan laughed. “Kieran.”

“Kieran?”

“It was my fath – well, I guess it was your grandfather’s name.”

“Winn, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure thing,” he responded, jumping up from his swivel chair and following Kara out of the command center and into the training rooms. “You’re not gonna punch me are you?”

“What? No,” Kara shook her head. “I’m not Alex.”

“Correct. So, what’s this about?”

“Lori,” Kara stated. “There’s something new that has been going on and Lena and I have not been able to come up with an answer for it so I was hoping maybe you could look into it.”

“Yeah, sure. Anything for that girl,” Winn clapped his hands together.”

Kara immediately launched into it. “At first I thought it was telepathy because that makes sense, right? But no because Kryptonians aren’t telepathic. But, Lori can feel what Lena’s feeling. Not all the time, thankfully, but whenever there’s a strong emotion connected to something, Lori can sense it.”

Winn was staring at her with a blank look on his face, which was not helpful in the slightest. “And maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with Kryptonians because she can’t read me.”

“Lori’s telepathic?”

“Maybe an empath?”

Winn’s fingers were making typing motions as he thought. “Possibly. But I wouldn’t know how to test that aside from doing diagnostics on her brain and even then I don’t think I’d find an answer easily.”

“I’m not agreeing to that and neither would Lena.”

“I didn’t offer that as a choice,” Winn’s eyes widened. “I don’t feel comfortable running those kind of tests on a two year old. I’m not a doctor.”

“Okay, good.”

“Well, not so good because we still don’t have a solution. But we don’t have a gui-“ Winn cut off, his eyebrows scrunching together as he had a thought. “Have you asked Clark? We don’t have an instruction manual but he is the only Kryptonian to have offspring with a human. Maybe he could clue you in.”

Kara’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t just some scheme to get in the same room as Superman again, is it?”

“Okay, that was one time!” Winn exclaimed. “But no, I’m being serious.”

Kara nodded, “I already tried that."

For some reason, Kara had been hesitant to involve Kal. She had far surpassed their rocky relationship as she had wanted and had also proven herself enough not to be worried about whether he was going to overshadow her. His full acceptance of her strength had been mirrored by the public, who looked up to her as much as they adored Superman.

But this had nothing to do with anyone else; it was personal and familial and she seemed to freeze when it came to him. There was always going to be the lingering feeling of abandonment no matter if she had forgiven him or not. It was a part of their past and would always be what they rebuilt from. He would have been the only one with even an inkling of an idea for what could be going on with Lori so when he had no idea, her hopes were obliterated.

Kara was stripping the place bare. She had not had much hope and now since Kalex was gone, she had to do everything herself. She had grabbed J’onn on her way out of the DEO without an explanation and had called Kal and told him to meet them at the Fortress of Solitude. Since he didn’t have any answers, that was their only other option.

They mostly followed her around, watching her zip through years upon years of information. Nothing about Kryptonians and a yellow sun. There was not a history of Kryptonians having children with humans. She had not expected there to be but she had to try.

She roared in frustrating, wanting to pull out her hair. “I need answers!”

She had not expected the anger. She was calm and collected every time she spoke of the matter with Lena. And when she wasn’t talking about it, she usually never thought about it. Now, when it was all she was thinking about since Lena had given her the nudge to finally look into it, it was becoming more and more clear to Kara why this was so much different than accepting Lori’s yellow sun induced powers; this was new and scary territory. Maybe if the connection had been with her, the anxiety would have hit sooner. Thinking about Lori feeling the grief of losing parents that weren’t hers or the pain of making a decision about lives that she didn’t have the right to make was terrifying. Kara was supposed to be protecting her daughter against hurt, not giving her a direct pathway to feel that hurt whether it was secondhand or otherwise. Lena’s frustration became blatantly comprehendible. Kara finally understood exactly what her daughter was experiencing.

“There can’t be nothing!” Kara exclaimed, alighting on the balcony of the DEO.

J’onn stood by the edge with his arms crossed, looking out across the city. “Sometimes there is nothing.”

That wasn’t what he was supposed to say. J’onn always had a solution or another idea to find a solution to a problem. Her hands dropped to her sides in frustration, the worry finding its way into her voice, “Then what do I do, J’onn? How do I help her?”

He put his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. She found calm wash through her body. “You find out how to live with it in a way that doesn’t make Lori think she’s wrong for feeling what she feels. And when its too much, you’re there to make sure she feels safe. You do what you can with the circumstances you are given.”


	8. Chapter 8

Lena pulled Kara into a kiss on the way out the door. “I get to meet with the new CFO today.”

She had received a brilliant smile in return and a sloppy kiss from Lorelai who had jumped in at the last second.

“I’m sure she’ll be great.”

After an accountant had notified her that they were missing reports for four months over the previous year, an investigation had begun, resulting in the firing of the previous CFO for fraud. It was a scandal the company didn’t need but dealt with in stride. It didn’t help that Morgan Edge made statements to frame L-Corp in a negative light. That man would stop at nothing to tear down anyone he viewed to be competition, no matter what action was needed. It was getting old. She had beaten him one too many times but he had promised to always hold a vendetta against her. Despite his comments, her commitment to transparency allowed her to keep the trust of the board members and the shareholders.

And then she had gone in house to hire, alighting on a very bright and charismatic woman that she knew at first glance was her number one choice. The hiring process had been quick as lightning, the board falling in love as soon as they met her.

Today was her first day in her new position and she was Lena’s priority for the day. Her assistant Sophie trailed behind her into the office, talking a mile a minute. She let her go on. She poured her a glass of water and sat it on her desk as she removed her jacket and stored her purse under the desk. “Sophie.”

“And I set up a meeting with your affiliates in Paris for –“

“Sophie.”

“-its flexible if you aren’t done with Ms. Arias by then but –“

“Sophie.”

It was like pulling her out of a trance. “Yes, Ms. Luthor?”

“I will be with Ms. Arias all day but keep the meeting," she sat down, pulling a folder she had left the night before closer to her, "I want to introduce her.”

She nodded.

“And let me know when she arrives.”

About an hour later there was a bustling at the door and Sophie showed in a very frantic CFO. “I am so sorry, Ms. Luthor. I had to drop Ruby off at school and I wasn’t expecting the traffic.”

Lena smiled, waving her off and rising from her chair. “It’s no problem.”

“I promise you,” she said, taking a seat opposite the desk, “I’m not normally like this. I am on time and dedicated.”

“We all have personal lives we have to attend to. I’ve had my fair share of running out of the office mid-day.”

The woman smiled with relief. “Thank you.”

“And who’s Ruby?”

“Oh, she’s my daughter. Cute and a ball of fire. But, she’s my heart and I’m all she has.”

Lena couldn’t help but smile at that description. “Well, she sounds lovely and she should be your number one priority. She needs you.”

It wasn’t hard for Lena to say any of this to Ms. Arias. She knew first hand she would drop anything for Lori. It was hard enough with two parents; she couldn’t imagine raising a kid all by herself. With two, if she couldn’t get there, Kara was on the case and vice versa. Sam had to do everything.

Lena had lost track of time throughout the morning. She loved her decision; Sam was incredible. The woman had already done her research but allowed Lena to give her the run down anyway. She took pages of notes; it probably would’ve been easier if she had recorded their conversations. Lena could almost see the impending hand cramp.

Sam was open and easy to talk to. She found them taking a break, laughing on the balcony when her office door banged open.

“Lori! You have to be careful!”

A small ball of joy charged and clutched onto her leg. She laughed, reaching down to pick Lori up. “Remember what I said about personal lives?”

Lori looked to Sam, her eyes squinting, “Who are you?”

The question was a duet. Kara had spoken from the doorway at the same time. Lena was taken aback by her expression. It was full of caution as her eyes flickered back and forth between Sam and Lena. But, within seconds, the tension had released and she was warmly smiling. Lena gave her a quizzical look before turning her attention back to Lori. “This is Ms. Arias. She’s working with mommy now.”

Lori stuck out a hand. “Hello.”

Sam laughed a tinkling laugh and shook Lori’s tiny hand. “Hello to you too. Lori was it?”

“Mmhm,” Lori said, nodding with pride.

“And this is my wife, Kara.”

Kara followed in her daughter’s footsteps, reaching out a hand. As they shook hands, her eyes were locked onto Sam but her expression remained neutral. She spoke to Lena and Sam. “Sorry to interrupt. I thought you would be done and Lori doesn’t listen very well to Sophie.”

“We were finishing up anyway,” Lena said. She had only planned on taking a break and getting back into the training but she was confidant in Sam’s abilities to take over the job. “I think you are very well prepared and I’m ready for you to start tomorrow. If there’s nothing else you would like from me, why don’t you go home and spend time with Ruby.”

“That would be amazing,” Sam sighed. “She’s not very happy about the fact that I’m going to be working all the time now.”

“Mommy and Jeju work all the time.” Lena’s eyes widened when Lori spoke Kryptonian. Usually she didn’t use that word around strangers. Kara was tense beside her.

Sam frowned. “What was that?”

“Oh,” Lena waved her off, “its just what she calls Kara. Had to differentiate between us somehow.”

Sam didn’t seem to think anything of it. “That’s cute.”

Lena realized they had overreacted. No one knew Kryptonian and most people wouldn’t have made the connection at all. Kids have different names for their parents and grandparents; it wasn’t uncommon. They were living in this constant state of fear that someone would figure out Lori’s connection to Supergirl and it was impacting their lives in the subtlest of ways.

Sam leaned into Lori. “Ruby could learn a thing from you.”

“She could learn a lot from me,” Lori said making everyone laugh.

“What was all that about?” Lena asked Kara when they were on their way home. Lori was crawling all over them in the back of the car as Kara was struggling to get her into the car seat.

“What was all what about?”

“You acted weird when you met Sam,” Lena responded.

“I know but I don’t know why. I felt strange around her.”

“She’s the nicest person I’ve ever met.”

“Rude.”

“I was trying to make a point, Kara.”

“Yeah, she seems great. I’m sure she’ll do a great job.” She finally got Lori strapped in. “Something threw me off and I don’t know what it was.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I really don’t know.”

Lena straightened in the seat and looked out the window. “Well, now I’m worried.”

Kara took her hands and smiled warmly. “She was very sweet and seems eager for the job. If everything you’ve said about her is true, she’ll make a great CFO.”

“I wished that worked as well as you think it does, but, you’ve planted the seed and there’s no going back from here,” Lena said dramatically.

Kara put her arm around Lena’s shoulder and pulled her in, laying a soft kiss on her temple.

“Me too! Me too!” Lori cried and Kara chuckled leaning to her other side and mashing kisses all over Lori’s face until the little girl was laughing so hard she started hiccuping.

“That’s not fair!” Winn jumped up and shouted.

Lori danced around the room, smiling. “Lori and Lena are not allowed to be on the same team. That’s cheating. Lori is always going to know the answer.”

“Is someone a sore loser?” James goaded.

Winn actually stomped his foot and Alex pushed him back onto the couch. “She’s three, Winn.”

He crossed his arms. “I don’t think she should get special treatment. She has a superhero and a genius for parents. It's already an unfair advantage.”

Maggie leaned forward. “You. Are. A. Child.”

Winn stuck his tongue out and Maggie threw her hands up. “Proof.”

Lori was eyeing the bowl of M&Ms on the table when Lena raised her eyebrows in silent command. Lori looked at her mom and then at the bowl and then at her mom and again at the bowl before she jutted forward and grabbed a handful, knocking the bowl off the table, scattering M&Ms across the floor as she dashed to get away. “Lorelai!”

Kara sighed, pushing off the couch and catching her daughter in mere seconds. The girl was giggling with a multi-colored chin from trying to stuff all the candy in her mouth at once. Her cheeks were pouched out with the amount of M&Ms she had consumed. Kara took her into the kitchen, set her on the floor and pointed at the trashcan. Lori pouted, which was hard to do with bulging cheeks. “Ugem.”

Lori dragged herself over to the trashcan and opened her mouth, slowly dispensing the candy into the garbage, glaring at Kara. “Okay, it’s bedtime."

“But game night’s not over!” Lori argued.

Kara put her hands on her hips. “Mommy told you no more candy and you didn’t listen. So now it’s bedtime. Go say goodnight to everyone.”

“No!” Lori shouted and sped to her bedroom.

Lena stood up from the couch, slowly, hand on her belly. “I’ve got it.”

Kara went back into the living room. Maggie looked up. “Someone’s tired.”

“No, someone wasn’t listening.” She slouched into the couch. Kara glanced at the noise everyone could hear. “She’s throwing a fit in there.’

“A Kryptonian-sized fit,” Winn joked thinking it was much funnier than it was when Kara found no humor in it.

“That’s dangerous.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Winn said quickly.

Kara sighed. “I know. She should be in bed anyway. It’s late. Also, game night should not be taken over by little ones.”

James clapped for that and sat forward. “So, are we still gonna play charades or are we moving on?”

“Hold on, hold on,” Winn stopped him. “I need to redeem myself. We are switching up teams.”

The teams before had been Alex and Maggie, Lena and Lori, Winn and Kara and James and Lucy. “And no Kara this does not mean you can be with Lena. No more couples teams. I’m picking the teams.”

Maggie groaned and Winn shot her a look.

“We have an odd number of people,” Alex pointed out.

Winn’s reply was full of sass, “Well I guess someone’s just gonna have to sit out now, aren’t they?”

Alex lifted one finger to him and he paled. Even with the years gone by he had never gotten over that threat. It might have been because Alex never let him forget.

“I will,” Lena said, re-entering.

“Is she asleep?”

“Probably not but she’s in bed.” Lena smiled, taking her seat next to Kara.

“Okay then. Maggie and James. Alex and K – nope, that’s a terrible idea. Alex and me. Kara and Lucy.”

In the end, Winn still lost and he looked at Alex shocked. “You sabotaged on purpose.”

“Of course I did,” Alex admitted, unfazed.

“That’s my girl,” Maggie piped up from next to James. They had been the winning team and if anyone thought Maggie was going to let them forget it, they were sorely mistaken. Lucy and Kara were surprisingly the worst charades team to ever exist so Winn took a little solace in the fact that he didn’t come in dead last.

“Let’s play something new before Winn implodes,” James offered.

Lena immediately said, “I vote Monopoly.”

Alex threw her head back, Winn fell onto the couch, James looked anywhere but at Lena, Lucy suddenly found her fingers the most interesting thing, and Maggie grumbled, not afraid to be audible. Kara patted Lena’s hand. “I don’t think that’s the best game for this group.”

“We’ve played it before. It’s definitely the best game.”

Kara fumbled for the right words but Maggie took the job from her. “Luthor you’re too good at it. None of us have a chance. We hate it.”

Everyone mumbled their agreement. Lena looked around and then burst out laughing. “It’s obvious you hate it. And it’s not fun to play with the lot of you either so…it was a joke.”

Maggie snorted and smiled at Alex. Winn hesitantly laughed while looking around at everyone else’s reaction. James nodded, accepting he had been played. Lucy was shaking her head and smiling. Kara had to laugh right along with Lena. “Okay then, what are we gonna play?”

Lucy slapped her thighs. “Why don’t we just break out the wine and talk?”

“Sounds good to me.” Lena disappeared into the kitchen, coming back with two bottles and a glass of water for herself.

_“James and Lucy are back together.”_

_“WHAT?!”_

_“Sssh,” Winn said, grabbing her arm. “That’s why I came over early. I wanted to tell you because I think they’re coming together and I didn’t want you to freak out in front of them.”_

_Alex came through the door, pulling Maggie behind her. Kara rushed them. “Did you know?”_

_“What?”_

_“James and Lucy.”_

_“Oh, that girl is about to hear it. She was so mad about not knowing about Maggie and then she starts keeping secrets.”_

_Maggie put a hand on Alex’s arm. “Maybe don’t yell at her.”_

_“I got a full blown scream at the DEO. I’ll do what I want.”_

_Alex was the one to accost them when they arrived, but she didn’t go overboard. Instead she glared at them for a very long time, until it became uncomfortable, and then said, “Well, it’s about time.”_

“Luce, how’s your end of the DEO?”

James had his arm around her and she was balancing her glass precariously on her knee. “Not exciting. It’s a lot of cleaning up your messes.”

She eyed Alex whose eyes widened. “Are you saying we don’t do our jobs correctly?”

“I’m not – maybe, yes, I’m saying that a little bit.” Alex held her stare before rolling her eyes. “What am I supposed to say? We do the grunt work. I miss being in all the action. It hasn’t been like that since the Daxamite invasion. Kara, remember that one time we hopped on bikes and intercepted that truck?”

Lena made a huge deal to turn towards her on the couch. “You can ride a bike?”

“Oh, no, it’s not, it’s really nothing. It was a one time thing.” She waved it off.

“You would hop on that bike in a second if you had the opportunity,” Lucy called her out.

Kara pursed her lips. “Maybe. Maybe not. I would ride with you again if we ever got the chance.”

“Why don’t you talk to J’onn?” Alex asked. “See if you can move divisions.”

“I’d be demoted,” Lucy admitted. “And I don’t want that. I’m good at giving orders; I like being in charge and my team respects me. I just wish we weren’t thrown to the side. We’ve got a lot of great agents who don’t get the fieldwork they deserve because you guys have pretty much taken that over. The DEO used to work together as a whole organization. The divvying up has caused a lack of resources.”

Alex had gone to get herself whisky when Lena hadn’t brought it out with the wine and was currently swirling that around a glass. “That’s not such a bad proposal. We’re stronger together.”

Kara’s entire body warmed. Alex probably hadn’t even made the connection before she spoke but Lena leaned over and whispered, warm breath hitting Kara’s ears, “El mayarah.”

Lena rarely ever spoke Kryptonian. For one, she couldn’t quite get her mouth around the pronunciation; she didn’t want to butcher it. Even though she didn’t speak it, she understood most of it. She had to learn that much for Lori’s sake.

But she repeated the motto with perfect pronunciation and Kara brought Lena’s hand up to her lips, kissing it gently. Lena nipped at her ear when no one was looking and Kara held in a squeak. “I may just want to see you on that bike.”

Cold air flooded the heated space when Lena moved back again. 

The next hour was spend enduring more embarrassing stories than heroic ones, usually at Kara’s expense. It was mostly for Lucy’s benefit. She hadn’t been around in a while, especially before her and James had gotten back together. She liked reminiscing about their missions. It started out as, “Hey, Kara remember that one time..” and usually ended with Alex going, “Yeah but then Kara shoved about four tacos into her mouth at the same time in front of the mayor.”

They took their fair share of digs at Winn. Maggie was the only one spared, mostly because she threatened anyone who tried to bring something up. Though Kara did get the story in about how she had totally zoned out listening to the coroners team when Alex had shown up on scene wearing sunglasses and biker boots. Maggie had shut it down after that with a, “Yeah, well if any of you had a girlfriend like Alex, then you’d get it.”

“I think Kara gets it!” Winn shouted and Alex smacked him to be quiet so not to wake up Lori.

“Little Danvers was always a mess around Luthor in the beginning. She’s a little better now. But don’t think I don’t notice when you eye her boobs. You’re not subtle,” Maggie commented and Kara felt heat rise in her cheeks. “But it’s not one-sided. Luthor you’re a mess around her. Remember when you both went on a date and didn’t realize it was really a date. Absolutely incredible.”

“I wouldn’t change it for anything.” Lena smiled over at Kara.

Maggie stood up. “Okay, that’s enough gross for one night. I think it’s about time we head out.”

“I was just about to say the same thing,” James added.

Kara hugged everyone before Alex asked Maggie to give her a second and pulled Kara aside. “I miss you.”

“I see you almost everyday.”

“I miss just you, Kara. We don’t do sister nights anymore. We almost stopped entirely when you and Lena moved in together and then it got worse when Lori was born. I know it’s hard but that was our thing and I don’t want to lose us to our lives.”

Kara grabbed Alex and pulled her into a hug. “Movie night. Just us. Friday night. Your place. We’ll eat too much pizza and ice cream and have a sleepover.”

“Did you forget we were going to Midvale this weekend?”

Kara nodded. “I forgot we were going to Midvale this weekend.”

“Then the next weekend, okay? I promise you” – she held Alex firmly by the arms – “I love you, Alex.”

“I love you too, Kara. Thanks for having us.”

“Always,” she said, waving her sister and Maggie down the sidewalk.

When the door closed, Lena was close beside her, nuzzling her neck with soft kisses. “So…you stare at my boobs?”

Kara sighed into a smile and whined. “You have really nice boobs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
Ugem - Now


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New year, new chapter.

She sprung up in bed, heaving. She could not catch her breath; it felt like her lungs had collapsed with the intense pressure on her chest. There was a hand fluttering, concerned, about her arm. Lena’s voice was soft when she whispered, “Kara. Kara.”

Air rushed into her lung so fast it was painful and she became light headed. She gasped. It cleared the fuzz from her mind and the room came into view. Her hand flew to her right and she grabbed onto the bare thigh that was sticking out of the covers. There was an almost imperceptible groan of discomfort and Kara immediately released her grip. Hands enveloped her face and her senses were overwhelmed. Her eyes bulged and her mouth was agape. The hand dropped. “Kara. What is it? You haven’t had a nightmare in so long.”

Kara could not even remember the last time she was plagued with this sort of terror. The Daxamite invasion was so long ago that those had already faded. Krypton brought her dreams nowadays but never nightmares. Without looking, she knew Lena was panicking right alongside her. Her mind was grappling with unanswerable questions. She stared at the wall opposite. “I saw my mother.”

Lori wanted to fly to Midvale and complained for the entirety of the first hour in the car about how they could already be there. Lena looked over to the passenger seat, giving Kara a knowing smile. Kara hadn’t wanted to talk about the nightmare when she woke up the day after. And Lena hadn’t brought it up since but her mind still wandered to what had triggered that after so many years being free of the fear that trapped Kara in a the never ending cycle of night terrors.

Kara thought it was just happenstance. Maybe the upcoming trip to Midvale had opened some wishful thinking about taking a trip to Krypton that could never be fulfilled. But it was strange that those bittersweet thoughts manifested themselves in a nightmare rather than a dream. But it was still fresh on her mind the next morning and it hurt a little bit too much. The image of her mother was something she was used to since the DEO had the projection but seeing her mother in such a beautiful place on Krypton was jarring. And then when all of that turned…she still didn’t want to remember it.

Through the side mirror, Kara could see Alex’s car behind them with Maggie in the passenger seat. There was a click and Lori had jumped up in the backseat waving excitedly out the back window. Krypto jumped up with her, confused about the sudden change in configuration and barked. The car seat was supposed to be childproof but with Lori’s growing strength, she could easily press the button and wiggle out of the straps. Lena saw it through the rearview mirror. “Lorelai, sit down. Strap back in.”

Lori grumbled but did what she was told. “Can I fly for grandma?”

“Grandma doesn’t like flying in the house,” Kara explained, “but you’ll have to ask her.”

Eliza was waiting in the doorway when they drove up to the house. The car had barely stopped before Lori was up and out of her car seat and running across the lawn, thankfully at a normal pace. “Grandma, can I show you how I can fly?”

“I didn’t mean right away,” Kara sighed, head falling into her hand as Krypto jumped from the car to sit at her feet.

Maggie slapped her on the back as she passed. “I do not envy you, Little Danvers.”

Lori was holding Eliza’s hands and jumping around in circles. Alex leaned over, giving her mother a hello kiss on the cheek as best as she could. Eliza was well versed in keeping the secret of a Kryptonian hidden. “How about you show me after dinner? In the backyard?”

Kara heard the sound of the trunk being shut and Lena was next to her, rolling her suitcase behind her. Kara reached out and took it from her. Lena’s belly was growing and Kara had started refusing to let her carry anything she deemed too heavy. Lena was slightly annoyed even though she knew the limits of what she was supposed to do. And sometimes, it wasn’t worth the argument.

Lena linked their arms together as they walked toward the house. “I see she already has Eliza’s attention.”

Lori had the innate capability to garner anyone’s attention, no matter who they were and where they were. It went along with people’s inability to tell her ‘no.’ “Oh, I have full faith that Eliza can wrangle her.”

Alex distracted Lori after dinner until it was dark enough that Eliza was comfortable with letting her fly outside. Lori burst through the back doors, Krypto fast on her heels, almost tripping her. “Grandma! Grandma! You ready?”

“Lori,” Lena reprimanded, “rules first. No higher than the roof and no farther than the edge of the beach.”

Lori pouted for a few seconds before agreeing once she realized Lena was not going to change her mind. It was either accept the rules or stay on the ground. Eliza spread her arms out. “Alright, let me see what you’ve got.”

Kara studied Eliza. This was a complete change from when she, herself, had arrived in the house. Then there was absolutely no use of her powers if she could help it. No flying whatsoever was the strictest rule of them all. And now Eliza was letting her toddler granddaughter fly around her backyard with no qualms. At least ones that she voiced. Maybe it was because Lena and Kara were allowing it that she let it pass. Maybe if Lori was there alone, Eliza would prohibit it. Maybe seeing Kara become who she had become, she realized it was unhealthy to stifle what was intrinsic.

“Kara.”

“I won’t let her fall,” Kara said but she crossed her arms in full confidence of her daughter. Kara would have to eventually step in to stop her, she hadn’t mastered breaking yet, but once she got going it was hard to make her want to come back down.

Lori hovered for a second, making sure everyone was watching. It took a few extra seconds as she stared pointedly at Maggie who was wrestling Krypto into compliance but finally she took off. Not far; she heeded Lena’s warning. Lori flew in fast, small circles right in front of them, yipping with glee and laughing all the way. Maggie lost her fight with the dog who followed Lori around the yard, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Eliza elbowed Kara. “She’s faster than you.”

Kara huffed and crossed her arms tighter. Eliza laughed at her expression. “Not now of course, but when you were first getting the hang of it.”

Kara’s comeback for that was unnecessary so she swallowed it. Eliza didn’t need to be reminded that the only way Kara could learn was to do it in secrecy. Eliza knew that and even back then, there was always a part of Kara aware that Eliza and Jeremiah were always tuned into her antics.

“Wow, she has a lot of stamina,” Alex commented after minutes upon minutes of Lori flying circles around the yard.

Kara stepped in just to hear Lori complain, “Awww, Jeju. I was going sooooo fast!”

“So fast, is’kal. But you’re making us all dizzy.” She set her daughter back on the ground.

Lori looked down at her stomach and scrunched her face up. “I’m hungry.“

Kara looked at Lena and burst out laughing. That put a smile on Lori’s face.

Eliza sat Kara down in the living room while Alex and Maggie gave Lori a bath and Lena got ready for bed. “I know I’m not her mother, but do you think you’re moving a little fast?”

Kara closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’m just bringing it up, Kara, because she’s only two and this can become dangerous, fast.”

She knew Eliza was just projecting her own fears about Kara onto her granddaughter but it was frustrating after she had fought so much about it with Lena. They had finally come to a place where they were on the same page and comfortable with how they were handling Lori’s Kryptonian side.

“I know the dangers,” Kara said, sterner than she had meant to, “and we’re being very safe and taking it slow. But Eliza, she wants this so much. She started asking about it and I can’t not let her know this side of herself.”

“Okay,” Eliza put her hands up in surrender, “I just wanted to make sure you thought about it.”

Kara smiled softly. “There was a lot of thinking and a lot of fighting before anything happened. Lena didn’t want it until she was older. I know it’s crazy!" - Kara stood up and started pacing - "But she’s so happy. She loves every second of it and I –“

“-want to share that with her.” Kara looked at Eliza’s face, which had finally come to understanding.

Kara’s shoulders dropped and she sat back down. Eliza rubbed soothing circles into her back. “Is that selfish?”

“Oh, sweetheart, no,” Eliza responded. “But you can’t forget that she’s not you. She’s only half-Kryptonian. That other half is human and more vulnerable than you.”

At that Kara snapped. She knew she shouldn’t have but it was a touchy subject. “I can never forget that. I think about it every day. I think about what me being Supergirl means to her. I think about what being part Kryptonian means for her. I think about what her last names mean for her. But I will protect my little girl with my life. There is nothing I would not do to keep her safe. But I will teach her everything about what it means to be part of the House of El just as much as she will learn how to be human.”

Kara rubbed her temples and sighed. “I’m gonna head up.”

She only made it two stairs before she turned around, went back to the living room and hugged Eliza. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Eliza said in a tone full of understanding.

“No, I shouldn’t have gotten so angry with you. It’s just been a subject that doesn’t seem to stop coming up. But it’s up to Lena and I. Whatever we decide is good for our family and our daughter. And right now, this is what we’ve decided.”

Eliza rubbed her arms and smiled. “I’ll be the supportive grandmother.”

Kara couldn’t help but smile back. “We would all love that.”

This time she did go all the way upstairs. “Jeju! Jeju, come here!”

There was no sneaking when Lori could hear the creak of the stairs. Kara looked in the doorway, seeing Alex and Maggie kneeling outside the bathtub, much more wet than they needed to be when they weren’t the ones in the bathtub, but they didn’t seem to mind. Lori was sitting under the water, playing with bubbles. Lori beckoned her closer. “I wanna show you something.”

Kara knelt down, leaning over the edge. Lori scooped up some water and held it to her mouth. And then, and Kara wasn’t expecting it, Lori blew really hard. The water went splashing into Kara’s face and she fell back, spluttering. Maggie and Alex cracked up and now Kara knew why they were soaked. But Lori looked proud of herself and was staring at the tiny amount of water left in her hand. “It’s colder, Jeju. Like you do!”

Kara couldn’t help but laugh at the expression of pure joy on Lori’s face. She was certain that the water was no colder than before. Kara reach into the water and ticked Lori, who squirmed, laughing. “Great job, chahv’kir!”

“What was all that about in the bathroom earlier?” Lena said, pulling the covers on the bed back.

“Lori tried to freeze-breath the water,” Kara whispered, looking over at their sleeping daughter.

Lena paused, eyes widening. “Oh, an –“

“She can’t but she thinks she can. Really she just got everyone drenched. I think most of the water ended up outside of the tub.”

Lena looked a little relieved as she climbed into bed. Kara followed her and pulled Lena against her. Lena nestled her head in the crook of Kara’s arm. “I wasn’t trying to be rude but I overhead you talking with Eliza.”

“Oh…”

“Only parts of it.” They sat in silence for a little bit. Kara wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t upset that Lena heard; they had talked about the same things before. But, she didn’t know why Lena was bringing it up.

Lena reached out, playing with Kara’s fingers and then intertwining them so they were holding hands. Kara kissed the top of her head. “What’s up?”

Lena was looking over at Lori. “She’s just so small. She is only three. I’m glad that she can’t use freeze-breath. All of this stuff is happening right now and she’s so little. She shouldn’t have to deal with that. It’s too much. And now we’re about to have two of them.”

“Neither of us can stop the yellow sun from affecting her at whatever rate it chooses. But we can be there to help her. I don’t think Lori sees anything as a burden. She doesn’t think any of this is crazy. This is her normal. And the next one will be entirely different.” Kara tried to comfort Lena.

“She’s a Luthor and a Super. That’s a lot of pressure,” Lena commented.

Kara rubbed her palm against Lena’s arm. “Then our job is to change that.”


	10. Chapter 10

They had discussed the decision at length: whether Lori should go or not. Lena had said yes. Kara had said no. Then Lena had come around to Kara’s side and agreed that she should definitely not go, it was much too risky. Then Kara had brought it back up, wondering if she had been too quick to decide but Lena was still adamantly against it. It got to the point where neither of them had any idea how they actually felt about the situation and decided that the whole time, they had been postponing the inevitable. So, they enrolled Lorelai in preschool.

The alarm went off, a loud annoying wake up call in the previous silence. She rolled over groaning, her arm circling before a hand caught it. “Don’t.”

She blew air through her lips and huffed. “You need a better reaction to waking up than crushing my phone. I really don’t want to have to get another one.”

Lena reached out and stopped the noise. Kara hummed and scooted across the bed, nuzzling into Lena’s side. Lena kissed the side of her head before trying to shove her off. “Kara, we have to go.”

She didn’t like the sound of that, preferring to stay under the warmth of the covers with Lena until the sun broke the horizon. So, she flipped herself on top of Lena, securing the woman beneath her her and peppering her face with kisses. Lena laughed and squirmed beneath her and Kara pressed down, her lips gliding over Lena’s chin and down her neck.

“Kara,” Lena said, between laughs, “we have to get up.”

Kara flopped to the side. “I know. I know. She's waking up anyway. I think she heard the phone.”

Lena turned on her side, reaching out, her hands on both sides of Kara’s face. She left a lingering kiss on Kara’s lips, sighing when it ended.

Kara rolled awkwardly out of bed, still groggy from the rude awakening and ran her hand through knotted hair. “I’ll get her.”

Kara padded from the room and found Lori, slowly waking, her body stretching unconsciously. Kara pulled the bar of the bed down and knelt next to it. They had moved Lori into a “big girl bed” but were still afraid she could roll out. In hindsight, it was a ridiculous concept. Lori had always gotten herself out if she wanted to. The girl could fly.

Kara whispered, “Lori.”

She nudged the girl, pushing hair out of her face. “Lori, it’s time to wake up.”

Lori mumbled nothing that sounded like words and blinked her eyes open, smiling with sleep. “Jeju.”

“Erosh:bem, chahv’kir.”

Krypto darted into the room, putting his paws up on the bed and trying to lick Lori’s face. Kara held him back but Lori giggled, rubbing at her eyes. Kara lifted her up. She nuzzled her head into Kara’s neck. “Come on. Mommy’s making breakfast.”

The toaster popped up as they entered the kitchen and Lena pulled Kara over so she could say good morning to Lori. “Do you want some waffles?”

“Mmmhm,” Lori mumbled when Kara set her in the chair, the sleeves of her pajamas moving up her arms as she stretched across the counter for the plate.

Kara skirted to the counter, pulling Lena in for a hug. “Coffee.”

“I turned the machine on.”

Kara shook her head. “Takes too long. Besides, I want Noonan’s.”

She left the apartment with a speed that left the curtains flying in her wake. Noonan’s was just unlocking the front door when she landed outside. It always caught her off guard, looking so deserted. The opener smiled at her through the door. “Supergirl, what can I get you?”

“Just two coffees. One with cream and the other with a lot of sugar,” she emphasized.

The inside was already warm from the kitchen. While the drinks were being poured, Kara’s eyes widened at the glass case filled with pastries. Her head popped up over the counter. “You know what? Give me a chocolate chip cookie too.”

She exchanged some cash for the bag and carrier and took off again, back home, trying not to the let the coffee fly away with her speed. Kara almost tripped over Lori who was standing, holding onto the window ledge, and waiting for her. “What are you doing still in your pajamas, munchkin?”

“We sang the teeth brushing song and Momma said I could wait for you.”

“Where is she?” Lorelai pulled on Kara’s cape so she would walk to the kitchen where she set the coffees on the counter and tried to make her bag look unimportant. She wanted to surprise Lori after her first day with a treat.

“Making her face pretty.”

Kara ruffled her already crazy hair. “Mommy’s always pretty.”

Lori gave her an exasperated look. “Well duh, I know that.”

There was a plate of waffles sitting on the counter. Lori pointed. “That’s your breakfast.”

She took a step back, putting her hands up in surrender. “Mommy said, ‘Lori, don’t touch,’ so I didn’t touch them. Okay, I touched them but I didn’t eat any, I promise.”

A corner of the bottom waffle as missing and Kara pulled it out from under the stack. “Okay, I ate the corner but just the corner.”

“Get in there, you little thief.” Lori squealed as Kara chased her out of the kitchen. Lena poked her head out of the bedroom at the noise and raised an eyebrow as she applied lipstick.

Kara sent her a kiss from afar and ran after Lori who had taken to jumping on the bed. “Are you excited for your first day of school?”

Kara tackled her, tickling her so she couldn’t give an answer. She patted Lori on the butt. “All right. Let’s get you dressed.”

Kara pulled jeans onto Lori’s body as she laid on her bed, flinging her feet all around, making it extremely hard for her mom. “You’re killing me, is’kal.”

Lori said up, only half dressed, with a smile on her face.

“Arms up.” She obeyed and Kara pulled a striped shirt over her head, tucking it into her pants. Lori jumped off the bed and started running from the room. “Not done!”

She slouched back and Kara fastened a belt around her waist, the end flopping down a little bit. “Can I brush my own hair?”

Kara handed the brush over but Lori grew bored of the task quickly and Kara had to wedge the girl between her legs so she could finish the job. Lori scampered off immediately.

The little girl sat on the bathroom counter as Lena finished pulling her hair into a high bun. Kara whizzed around the room, dressing in seconds, hair up in a ponytail and glasses back on her nose.

“You’re picking her up today,” Lena stated, checking on their schedules. It was weird having a schedule in place of what used to be mystery. Lena grabbed her coffee off the counter. She saw the waffles, uneaten, “You didn’t have breakfast.”

Kara slipped them into a napkin and stuffed them in her bag, keeping one out and warmed it up with a quick burst of heat vision. “I’ll take them to go.”

Kara grabbed Krypto’s leash, attaching it to his collar as he bounded for the door. Lena turned around. “Lori! Shoes!”

Lori dashed off and came back with sandals, surprisingly on the right feet. Kara held her backpack out and she slipped her arms through. It was almost the size of her and Kara laughed because Lori loved it. Lena took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.”

Kara hadn’t realized that dropping Lori off at school was going to be a big deal. Though excited, Lori was hesitant at first, clinging to Lena’s leg. But, when she saw the other kids arriving and playing around, she was ready to go and Kara became the hesitant one. For three years, unless she was out doing Supergirl business, she had Lori by her side. And now, she was going to go through a morning at CatCo without her little girl.

Both her and Lena bent down to say their byes. “Bye bye, Jeju! Bye, momma!”

With that, Lori took off into the room.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Kara sniffed.

Lena frowned, wrapping her arm around Kara’s waist. “She’ll be great. Four hours and you can come pick her up.”

That became their daily morning routine, which was a far cry from when each morning had been a question. They walked Lori to school, Krypto padding along. Each drop off became easier and easier until Kara only felt a small pang at watching her daughter run off.

Lena would leave for L-Corp right from the school. Kara would walk the dog back before she hurried into work. And then, during her lunch break, she would drop by to pick Lori up and take her back to CatCo for the afternoon.

Kara was finishing up work, getting ready to head home when Lori pounded her fist on the ground, her tiny face scrunched up into a scowl. Kara peered over the desk as Lori fisted a piece of paper. The edges wrinkled, threatening to tear with the force.

“What’s wrong, chahv’kir?”

“I know this already.” Lori held out the paper where all the letters of the alphabet were listed. “I can say the whole thing already.”

And she did, launching into the song. “And next week, Miss Catherine said we would start learning how to count to ten" - Lori rolled her eyes, pushing off the ground - “I know how to get to twenty, right?”

Kara nodded though Lori was already past twenty. “What else are you learning?”

“Shapes. But, Jeju” – Lori looked at her pointedly – “everyone knows what a circle is.”

“I wouldn’t advise it. She is only three.”

Kara looked over to Lena. They were sitting on the opposite side of the principal’s desk as if they were in trouble. Miss Catherine was also in the room. Kara had brought up the possibility of Lori moving up in school since she was so bored with what she was learning.

“At this point, preschool is more of an education daycare setting. We usually wouldn’t even look into the option until the child was in kindergarten and even then, the decision is hard. Socially most five year olds are not ready to go into a higher grade.”

“But what do we do now?” Lena questioned. “We don’t want to pull her out but it doesn’t seem worth it.”

Kara looked to Miss Catherine who had supported this line of inquiry but now was not offering much help.

“All I can advise is for this to be revisited in two years.”

Lena leaned forward in her chair. “So, I’m supposed to stunt my daughter’s learning because you’ve never had a child of three show talents beyond her age?”

“Now, Ms. Luthor, that’s not what –“

“This school is the best in the district, am I right?”

The principal folded her hands. “Yes.”

“And that is because of the superior education offered here?”

“Yes.”

“Would it not be valuable for you to be able to say that you have a student so gifted?”

“I’m afraid you’re not thinking about the consequences to other areas of development for the child.”

Kara reached out and set her hand on Lena’s arm to calm her. It did not have much effect. “She has easily made friends since she began here. I have never seen her even remotely hesitant for social interaction outside of school. I do not view that as the problem. What I think –“

Kara cleared her throat. All three women in the room looked at her. She swallowed. “I just want to say that I don’t think there would be any harm in allowing Lori to try out kindergarten.”

Lena turned back to the principal. “I think at least first –“

“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Kara offered. “I have no doubt that Lori would excel at an even higher level. But, there are some things learned in kindergarten that Lori doesn’t know. And if after a time spent in kindergarten, there doesn’t seem to be any improvement, we can revisit this.”

Lena pursed her lips but seemed to concede to Kara’s point. Miss Catherine looked relieved at the compromise and the principal nodded. “I am willing to attempt that.”

She opened a drawer and took out a couple folders, looking through rosters. “I’ll have all of the paperwork processed this week and Lori may start in Mr. Hewitt’s class on Monday.”

Kara stood up and reached out a hand, shaking the principal’s. “Thank you. We really appreciate it.”

Lena stood as well and the principal looked to her. “All I want is to create the best environment for our students.”

Lena smiled though it came up short. “Of course.”

They exited the office and Kara pulled Lena closer to her. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”

“Lori could be in third grade.”

“You are not one to exaggerate.”

Lena sighed, the tension in her body releasing. “Okay, well I really do think she’d do fine in first grade.”

Kara kissed her temple. “I have no doubt that in a couple weeks, that’s exactly where she’ll be.”


	11. Chapter 11

And then there were four. Ethan Alexander El Luthor.

“I’m not even gonna get _one_ that looks like me am I?” Lena commented good-naturedly as she stared down at their beautiful baby boy. He already has tiny blonde wisps showing and bright blue eyes.

“He’s just a clone of you,” she laughed.

Lori hopped up into Kara’s lap to get a look at her brother. “Ehwor tagehd, ue kir.”

His attention was caught on Lorelai who could not contain her excitement about the new baby.

Kara didn’t set him down for four days and even then, Lena had to pry him from her hands, which was not an easy feat for a human. At first Krypto kept his distance. It was a new smell and it had been the same with Lori at first. Once he realized the baby was staying, he started sniffing around and investigating. Eventually he plopped himself right next to wherever Kara was sitting with Ethan and fell asleep.

“Diana is coming to see the baby so please act normal.”

Alex paused and slowly turned on the spot. “I physically cannot do that.

“Alex, come on, you’ve already met her and I’m giving you a heads up this time.”

Alex reached out and put a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Think about this. Diana is to me as Superman is to Winn.”

“And what about Maggie?”

“What about her?” Alex asked.

“Um…she’s your girlfriend,” Kara stated the obvious.

Alex shrugged the comment off, returning to clean her gun. “Diana is a god.”

Kara rolled her eyes and left it at that.

Diana Prince in National City caused quite a stir. Gossip headlines ranged from "Does Supergirl Have a Girlfriend?" to "Who in National City’s Power Couple is Cheating?" Kara was aggrieved by the latter, but Lena told her to ignore them. They were sitting at an outside table at a restaurant in the city. Diana was with them. She had commented, “Why must people be so interested in the lives of others?” and then came up with a solution that involved them all being seen together in public.

Lori had wanted to sit next to the new woman whom she had not remembered meeting as a baby. Her eyes were wide and she stared unabashedly at Diana who didn’t seem to mind. She never spoke though. Whenever the woman tried to speak to her, Lori would turn red and shy away. It was the most tame that Kara had ever seen her daughter.

Diana was cradling Ethan in her arms, cooing lovingly at him. She was completely enamored with babies. She could not get enough of Ethan and it had been the same with Lori. She wanted to hold them, touch them, play with them, and mostly watch how they acted. Lena was very concerned with her reaction to Lori and Diana had explained, “There were never babies or children, aside from myself on Themyscira. They were something new to me when I left the island and I never quite outgrew my obsession with how cute and small they are. It’s wondrous.”

She had been so grateful that Kara had wanted her to meet her first child and now she was here for the second time.

Kara heard the snaps of photographers across the street and groaned in annoyance. Diana looked over with a curious expression. “Is this how it always is for you?”

“Mostly.”

“And they don’t even know…?” Diana trailed off, knowing that Kara could sense the end of her question.

“It’s not me they’re after,” Kara smiled, placing her hand over Lena’s on the table. “Well, it is now because I’m with Lena. It’s been years and they still haven’t gotten over it.”

“Interesting,” was her only comment, her attention diverting back to Ethan’s sleepy form. Lena paid for their lunch and as they got up to leave, Diana returned Ethan to his carrier and leaned down to Lori. She whispered something because though Lori went red again at being addressed, her eyes brightened and she nodded profusely. Diana bent down and Lori stood on the chair to climb onto Diana’s shoulder. She secured herself by wrapping her arms around Diana’s forehead, causing the woman to laugh.

“Oh, Diana, you don’t have to do that,” Lena said, her eyes reproaching Lorelai.

Diana bounced Lori on her shoulders, smiling at the girl’s giggles. “Momma, we’re gonna fly!”

Lena’s eyes went wide but all Lori did was stick out her arms and Diana ran through the gate of the restaurant making whooshing noises. Kara pulled Lena into her side and kissed the side of her head. Lena relaxed.

All Diana wanted to do during her stay was watch Lori and Ethan which gave Lena and Kara a bit of time for themselves.

Alex came over with Maggie one day and Diana reintroduced herself to the women who kept it together much better the second time around. The first time, they had been complete messes.

_“Kara!” Alex cried as the front door to Kara’s apartment opened. “I wanna see the –“_

_Alex froze in her tracks, her eyes going wide as they landed on the woman standing over the basinet. Lena gave Alex a disgruntled look, shushing her. Kara gave her one of concern and the realization dawned. “Oh, yes! You two haven’t met.”_

_Diana dragged her eyes away from the baby. Kara gestured out. “Diana, this is my sister, Alex. Alex, this is –“_

_Diana reached a hand out. “Diana Prince.”_

_“Uh-huh,” Alex responded, turning on her heel and rushing from the apartment. She was barely out the door when Kara heard, “Maggie, you will not believe…”_

_Diana turned to Kara, confused. Kara smiled, waving it off. “She can be weird sometimes. Don’t worry about it. She’ll be back.”_

_And she did come back, but she stayed in the hallway until Maggie showed up. One foot in the door and Maggie’s jaw dropped. Kara tried introductions again. “Alex and her girlfriend, Maggie. You two crazies, this is Diana.”_

_Alex cleared her throat and was able to respond this time. “Nice to meet you.”_

_“Who are you?” was Maggie’s less diplomatic reply._

_“Diana Prince. Curator at the Louvre.”_

_“She’s a god,” Kara blurted out and covered her mouth immediately with her hand. She had briefly mentioned the woman she met in Paris to Alex but had never gone into much detail._

_Diana laughed quietly and smiled. “That’s not how I usually introduce myself but it is the truth. Diana, Princess of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus. Though currently, I curate at the Louvre in Paris.”_

_“I’m so sorry, Diana.”_

_“It’s okay. If you trust them, so do I.”_

_“A go-god,” Maggie stuttered out._

_“Not everyday you meet one of those.” Alex tried to joke but her voice cracked._

_“And I thought aliens were the cool thing.”_

_“Hey!” Kara reached out and smacked Maggie on the arm._

_Lena had Lorelai in her arms and walked over. “Well, while those two compose themselves, would you like anything to eat, Diana?”_

_Diana followed Lena into the kitchen and Kara shot a reproachful look at her sister and Maggie. They stayed near the door but Kara had no problem hearing their whispered conversation._

_“What a woman.”_

_“What a god.”_

_“You’re right.”_

_“I’m always right.”_

_“Be glad you’ve got me, Danvers, because if I were single…”_

_“You could never get her.”_

_“Rude. That’s rude.”_

_They stayed the rest of the night for some reasons unbeknownst to Kara who thought they would be better off leaving and getting out of the same room as Diana. But they chose to do the opposite and spent their time indecently staring at her and acting like complete children._

Kara woke up yelling.

“Kara?”

“Is everything okay?”

“I think so. Kara, can you hear me?”

“I’ll get some water.”

All of a sudden there was a glass in her hand. She was blinking, the darkness clearing from her vision. Two faces were close to hers: one a worried Lena, the other an understanding Diana. She gulped down the water, breathing heavy.

Lena’s hand was pushing her hair back. Diana had sat on the end of the bed.

“I’m sorry I woke you.”

Diana shook her head. “I have been awoken by my own terrors.”

“What was it about?” Lena asked. “Do you remember?”

Kara shook her head. “An overwhelming sense of fear. And loss.”

“Those are the ones about home.”

Lena looked inquisitively at Diana. “How would you know?”

“The worst are always about the past.”

Diana stayed a week and then was needed back in Paris. And then it was a cavalcade of visitors through the portal. Barry and Iris showed up with a six year-old Nora to coo over Ethan. Kara was surprised to find that meta-humans passed down their power genetically. She had gone to meet Nora on Earth-1 to find two absolutely exhausted parents. The baby was crawling at this point but she was already tapping into the speed force. Barry’s powers were drained and Iris looked completely overwhelmed. Kara thanked Rao that the speed had not kicked in immediately for either of her kids. The hovering was enough to give Lena a heart attack. Lori chased Nora around the apartment for hours until they both passed out.

Sara came even if it was just to have another chance to push Kara’s buttons; something she hadn’t been able to do since Kara and Lena’s wedding. She wasn’t much interested in Ethan or Lori but she submitted to listening to Lori’s endless ramblings. Ava never stopped talking about the baby the entire time.

Surprisingly, Oliver and Felicity showed up. Kara had never grown close to him and she figured that their appearance was Felicity’s doing. William came with them but was at the age where he didn’t care about the baby and didn’t want anything to do with Lori. Lori was not taking the hint, climbing all over him on the couch. When William started to complain, Oliver shot him a look and he resigned himself to the onslaught.

Caitlin Snow popped by quickly one day just to say hello but no one else from Team Flash, Team Arrow or The Legends showed up. They sent messages of congratulations but everyone was a little too busy saving the world.

_“I swear, Barry Allen, if you are not at my wedding…” Barry vaulted over the couch to get away from the smoldering Kryptonian. He put his hands out in defense. Her eyes flashed in warning._

_“All I said was I would have to check the date.”_

_“You can go through time, no excuses.”_

_He grimaced sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m not really supposed to do that anymore.”_

_Kara stalked him around the couch. “Fine. I can tell you what’s on your calendar that day. ‘Trip to Earth-38 to see one of my best friends get married.’ That’s it. End of story.”_

_She started to climb the arm of the couch when the front door slammed shut and both her and Barry jumped in surprise. _

_“What is going on here?”_

_“Iris!” Kara sped over, grabbing her into a hug. “I came because I have big news…”_

_Iris squealed already grabbing her hand to check for a ring._

_“Oh, um, I don’t have a ring. On Krypton, bracelets were given, so that’s what we did.”_

_Iris grabbed her arm and smiled. “That’s wonderful. And it’s beautiful.”_

_“So” – Kara glared at Barry – “I came to invite you to the wedding.”_

_“Of course we’ll be there,” Iris answered immediately and Kara shot a smug look at Barry who rolled his eyes._

_“I do need help with something else as well. I don’t know how to get in touch with the rest of your team or Team Arrow or the Legends” – she pulled envelopes out – “and they’re all invited. I was hoping you could pass them on.”_

_Iris took them and agreed to help. Barry came over and took a look. His eyebrows rose. “Wow, there’s even one for Mick.”_

_Kara didn’t particularly like Mick or want him at her wedding for that matter but he was part of the team and she was inviting them all. “I didn’t want to be rude. I was kinda hoping a wedding wouldn’t appeal to him.”_

_Barry offered for her to stay for dinner but she declined. “I told Lena I’d be right back. She wanted to come but she was hung up in a conference call.”_

_“Tell her we said hi and congratulations.” Kara saw them wave before she stepped through the portal. She wondered too late how everyone would send their RSVPs.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
Ehwor tagehd, ue kir - Say something, little brother


	12. Chapter 12

Lori loved every single thing about her little brother. She was almost like Diana in the way that she couldn’t get enough of him. She wanted to learn everything about him and trailed Lena and Kara around the apartment, a continuous strain of questions flowing from her mouth. She had finally gotten over the fact that he could not speak yet and now she wanted to change his diaper and get him dressed or give him a bath and feed him at night. She was allowed to watch.

Kara awoke early one morning, another bad dream leaving her with a tangle of anxiety in her chest. It took her a few moments to clear the fuzz in her head before she heard a voice whispering in the other room.

“Come on, you can do it. Like this. See?”

Kara quietly climbed out of the bed, doing her best to leave Lena asleep. Peaking around the corner, she could see into the room where Lori and Ethan slept. The baby was gurgling happily and Lori was peering through the bars, watching. “You’re not doing it. I’ll show you again.”

Lori floated off the ground. “Like this. It’s easy.”

Kara couldn’t help but smile as she watched Lori try to teach Ethan to fly. Lori hadn’t started to hover until six months and if this was going to be a nightly routine, Lori would never get any sleep.

Kara slipped as silently as she could into the room but Lori heard her and turned around, eyes wide.

“You’re not in trouble is’kal but you should be asleep,” Kara lightly admonished.

Lori sighed heavily; the noise amusing coming from a now four year old. “I know, but Ethan wanted to fly and so I had to teach him.”

“I’m sure he did,” she said, scooping Lori up and placing her back in bed, “But Ethan can learn to fly when it’s not dark outside.”

“I was just trying to be a good big sister.”

Kara pulled the blanket up and kissed her on the head. “You’re a _great_ big sister.”

“It smells like it’s burning.”

“It’s not burning, I’m looking directly at it.”

“Are you sure?”

“That I’m staring at it?”

Lena’s head peaked around the corner, one eyebrow raised with a look that quite clearly showed her irritation. Kara sighed. “I promise it’s not burning. Go finish getting ready. I’ve got this under control.”

Lena disappeared and Kara flicked the light on in the oven to double check that the bread was indeed not burning.

“Helllloooooo!” The door swung open and Alex appeared, swinging a bottle of wine, Maggie close behind, shaking her head with an adoring smile on her face.

“Alex.te!” Lori bounded up from the floor where she was playing with Ethan on his play mat. She wrapped herself to Alex’s leg. Alex looked up at Kara and mouthed, “Why are the children here?”

“The only way Sam could come tonight was if she could bring her daughter.”

“Well, I guess these were not needed,” Maggie said, pulling out two more bottles from her bag.

“There will be much wine drinking, don’t worry,” Lena said, smiling as she came into the kitchen, taking the wine from Maggie and kissing her on the cheek in greeting. “Thank you so much for coming tonight. I didn’t want her to feel like this was a work dinner.”

_Pop!_ Alex pulled the cork out of the first bottle. “Definitely isn’t going to be a problem.”

“Is that burning?” Maggie pointed at the oven.

Lena glowered at Kara who threw her hands up in defense. “I’m not looking directly at it anymore so…”

Pulling the oven door open, smoke rushed out. Kara blew, softly for a Kryptonian, to help dissipate the smoke as Maggie threw open the double window near the table. Lena slammed the tray onto the counter, Krypto scampered, and Ethan started wailing. Lena was shaking her hand out, “Shit, shit, shit.”

Kara rushed to her, prying open her hand, which was turning red. “I’m the one who can pick up the burning pans without mitts, not you.”

“Come here, come here,” Alex was gesturing to Lena, “I’ve got this.”

Alex took Lena in to the bathroom; Lori followed quickly. Kara let the doctor take care of the burn while she picked her son off the floor to quiet him. Maggie was inspecting the bread, “Well, none of it’s burned.”

Kara was rooting around to find Ethan’s pacifier as she heard a knock. “Coming!”

Opening the door, baby in arm, she was greeted by a tall, smiling woman that she had met once before. “Sam, hi! Come in, come in.”

She stood back to let the woman in. A shy, little girl trailed after her. “Are you Ruby?”

The little girl nodded before hiding her face behind her mom’s leg. “She’ll warm up. But, in the meantime, I brought this.”

Sam pulled out yet another bottle of wine. Maggie laughed. “Well, I definitely think we have enough now.”

Sam was looking around, searing for a familiar face. “Where’s Lena?”

“My wife decided she was Supergirl tonight.”

“Wha -?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Lena was repeating, her voice coming from down the hallway. And then she appeared, her hand wrapped. Alex appeared behind her and looked at Kara, “She’s worse than you.”

“Sam!”

“Lena, what did you do?” Sam asked, very confused at the chaos already surrounding them, as she was hugged.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Stupid.”

“Not something you often hear from Lena Luthor,” Sam commented.

Kara was by Lena’s side, inspecting the wrapping. “Well, it _was_ stupid. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, Kara, I’m fine.”

Kara let her hand drop. “Okay.”

“Ruby,” Lena motioned to the little girl still clinging to her mother’s leg, “why don’t you come and meet Lori? You guys can go and play.”

She looked up to Sam who gave her an encouraging smile. “Go ahead.”

“Lori!” Lena called and their daughter came running down the hallway, a little too fast for comfort and Kara saw Lena tense. Alex looked at her two. Out of everything they had prepared for the night, they had forgotten to tell Lori she had to tune down her powers.

“What?” And then she saw Ruby. “Oh, hi, I’m Lori. Who are you?”

“Ruby…”

“Do you want to meet my dog?”

A small smile appeared on Ruby’s face and she nodded and followed Lori into the living room where Krypto was standing guard over Ethan.

“Well, that was easier than expected,” Sam said with some surprise in her voice.

“Lori is a pro.”

Introductions happened and wine was poured, and Kara refused to let Lena touch anything hot for the rest of the night. But that left her in a debacle because she reached out to hold Lena’s hand as they sat on the couch after dinner and Lena pulled away. When Kara looked at her confused, she whispered, “I’m following _your_ rules.”

Alex and Sam hit it off immediately. They had the exact same sense of humor much to Maggie’s horror. She rolled her eyes so much that night that Kara thought she was going to hurt herself. Sam was not a stranger to motorcycles which grabbed up all of Alex’s attention for a good thirty minutes. And then Ruby, to everyone’s surprise, maybe Alex’s most of all, climbed up onto the couch and sat directly between Alex and Maggie. She didn’t say anything, she just stared at Alex with bright eyes.

“Ruby,” Sam admonished.

“No, it’s alright,” Alex stopped her. “She can sit here.”

“Do you guys have kids?” Sam asked. Kara snorted.

“Oooh,” Maggie said.

“Uhhh,” Alex added.

“Hmmm.”

“Not us.”

“Not our thing.”

“We very much enjoy being the cool aunts,” Maggie explained.

“One hundred percent. They come and they go. That’s perfect.”

“Well, it looks like Ruby would absolutely love that.” Sam laughed as her daughter made herself even more comfortable, squeezing herself in.

“Put me down for another cool aunt,” Lena added.

“And me!” Kara said.

Alex pointed at Kara and looked at Sam. “Three cool aunts and a nerd of an aunt, I’d say.”

“You guys are amazing. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Alex said, brushing it off.

“No, seriously. I didn’t expect to meet such amazing people as soon as I moved here. It’s always been just the two of us and it’s always rough to pick up and leave the place you know.” Sam said it without realizing just how true that was for more than half the room. “But if you guys stick around, I think it’ll be a lot easier.”

“Well, I for one am not going anywhere,” Lena said, “You do still work for me, after all.”

“And we’re kind of a package deal,” Kara added, squeezing Lena.

“You do not work for me,” Alex spoke up, “But you’re too cool, I can’t pass that up.”

“Our family is the best at taking in strays –“

“Maggie,” Alex reproached.

“That’s not mean. You’re like the center of this circle. Then Kara. Then me. I don’t have any other family.” She pointed to Lena. “We literally adopted a Luthor. Sam has already said she’s got no one in the city. Ugh, okay, all I’m saying is we’re good at this and we’re loyal” – she directed her attention to Sam – “and you could do much, much worse.”

Sam was smiling, her eyes watering. “I don’t think I’d want to be anywhere else.”

“Ruby’s my best friend,” Lori said through a yawn as Kara tucked her in.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Can we play again?”

“I don’t think that will be an issue at all.” Kara kissed her forehead. “Momma will be in to say goodnight in a minute.”

But Lori was asleep before Kara even left the room.

She blinked back the feeling that was rising in her head as she threw off her clothes and climbed into bed. It was something dull she hadn’t really noticed throughout the evening but now that everything was quiet, it was building.

Lena had gotten much more personal with Sam than Kara would ever have expected, especially since they worked together. Lena had done everything in her power to make Sam understand this wasn’t a work dinner and Kara thought that was successful but the immediate trust that seemed to pour from Lena when it came to Sam was something Kara had never seen. It had even taken her a bit to break through Lena’s stone walls. But she had laughed with abandon and talked about a one night stand she had had many years ago.

She hadn’t shied away from any question or any story. Sam hadn’t been prying either; Lena was volunteering information that Kara had spent years dragging out of her.

She was trying to rub the pain out of her head because it had become a hard throbbing behind her eyes that wouldn’t go away.

“What’s wrong?”

She almost jumped; she hadn’t heard Lena approach. She groaned. “I’ve got a headache.”

“You can’t get headaches.”

“Well apparently I can now,” she grimaced.

Lena didn’t say anything else and she looked up to see Lena standing in the doorway, thinking hard. “You’re not worried about this?”

“It’s just a headache, Lena. I’m sure it’ll go away. They usually do, right?”

“Usually…”

“Then forget about it for tonight and I’m sure it’ll be gone when I wake up.” Kara beckoned her over. Instead of climbing into bed, Lena disappeared. Kara fell back into the pillows, holding her head. She couldn’t hear what Lena was doing. It was far from the worst pain she had ever felt, but it did seem to be clouding her senses.

The bed dipped as Lena returned. “If you are adamant to treat this like a real headache, then that’s what we’ll do.”

Kara shuddered as something ice cold was pressed against her forehead. “It’s cold.”

“It’s an ice pack, dummy.”

“It’s too cold,” Kara complained.

Lena scoffed. “If this isn’t over in the morning, we’re going to do some research because not only is it worrisome, but you have been feeling unwell for a total of five minutes and are already the worst.”

But the next morning, the ice pack had melted onto the pillowcase and the headache was gone and with it, the worry.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly thought quarantine would encourage me to write more often... its had the opposite effect. Sorry for the month wait, guys!

It had taken half of the day, even with super speed. Lena refused to let Kara move all of the furniture into the house alone at full speed in order to make sure the doorframes kept their integrity. Kara grumbled about it as she allowed J’onn, Eliza, and James to help. Lori tried her hand at helping as well but when she tried to mimic Kara and lift a chair one handed over her head, Lena put a stop to that.

Lena stood in the front yard and looked up at the house. It was normal. It was suburban. And it was something she had never had before. She had moved from the Luthor mansion to penthouses. When she had first gone to the realtor, the overwhelming vastness of their options had Kara squeezing her hand in solidarity. So, they had decided they would ask for what they needed and nothing more. She was standing in front of a house she had not realized she had been dreaming of until she saw it.

When their friends first saw it, Lena thought that lack of ostentatiousness surprised them but when Kara and her had first stepped inside the doorway, even with the space being completely empty, they had been washed over with a sense of relief. A space that was theirs, together. The idea of reputations that the Luthors had instilled in her was one of wealth and superiority. This change was sure to have the magazines up in arms when they found out. But how much of a surprise could it really be when she didn’t end up marrying some foreign diplomat but a cub reporter? They had a field day with that until Kara’s promotion and then they seemed to quiet down; not about the new couple or the like but about how in the world Kara Danvers could ever have caught the eye of Lena Luthor.

She could imagine the headlines now: Billionaire CEO settles for an unimposing house in the suburbs. And the subheadlines: Was she ousted by the board? Filing for bankruptcy? What does she have to hide? Find out more on page fourteen!

It was all garbage. They chose the house because their apartment was being torn apart. It was Kara’s studio that they had managed to DIY convert into a two bedroom once Lori came along and now with Ethan, it was almost impossible to live in. But they hadn’t entirely given it up. Lena offered to buy the building, but Kara thought that was ridiculous as she usually did when Lena offered to do something that grand. Instead, they chose to renew the lease at least one more time and they would check in again every year. All of their friends were in the city and they didn’t want to feel entirely removed from the life they had come to know and love. But if they were going to raise two kids without going crazy, they had to find someplace with more space. And if Kara was going to teach their kids how to control their powers, they needed to be outside the confines of destructible buildings.

The backyard was closed in by a rather tall fence and Kara had already started having ideas about how they could safely fly out of the sight of neighbors. And furthermore, how Lori could learn how to use heat vision without burning down the neighborhood. So far, no solution had been adopted for that issue and so heat vision was not allowed in the house. Super strength “would be easy” Kara had stated confidently. Freeze breath wasn’t as much of an issue, or so Kara thought and as for x-ray vision, well Kara didn’t even know how to explain that one to Lori in the first place.

_“Hey, babe,” Kara said, kissing Lena as she was greeted at the door. “I didn’t know Lori was here. Thought James had her today.”_

_Lena shot her a quizzical look. “He does. She’s not here.”_

_Kara immediately x-rayed the room, finding no other person aside from Lena and herself. She scanned one more time until her eyes alighted on the slight protrusion of Lena’s stomach. Her eyes widened. “Oh, Rao.”_

_“What?” Lena asked nonchalantly, organizing a stack of papers on her desk._

_“I can hear their little heart.” She was instantly at Lena’s side, hand on her stomach, gently rubbing. “Hi in there. I can hear you. Can you hear me?”_

_There was no telltale sign that the baby could; it had mostly been a rhetorical question and Kara had already moved on. _

_“I can hear them!” she exclaimed again, looking up into Lena’s shining eyes._

_And then the shine left them and fear entered._

_“What?” Kara asked, standing up._

_“Them? There better not be two in there.”_

_Kara laughed. “No, I just don’t want to say “it.” That sounds so bad calling our baby an “it.”_

_“I’d rather you call it “it” then give me a heart attack.” Her lips softened into a smile. “I think it’s incredible you can hear them.”_

_She put her hand on Kara’s cheeks. “How does it sound?”_

_“Strong.”_

_ Kara smiled and kissed Lena._

_Not a few hours later, Kara was pacing the bedroom. It was late but her mind was racing a hundred miles a minute. “We need to get everything checked thoroughly like last time. Winn and Alex, maybe we should enlist Barry this time around, just in case something changes-”_

_“Kara.”_

_“I don’t think it will but everyone at Star Labs would love to help. Oh, and we should probably think about moving –“_

_“Kara.”_

_“I just can’t imagine raising another kid in this apartment. It’s already too small. I’d love to go to Midvale but it’s just too far –“_

_“Kara.”_

_“-from the city and we can’t completely throw away our lives. What am I even talking about? Leaving, how in the world could we –“ She was cut off from her train of thought as something smashed into the back of her head. “What the -?”_

_She turned to find Lena sitting up in bed, halfway under the covers, rubbing at her eyes. Kara looked down to the floor and saw the hardback book that had been sitting on the bedside table for some time, the bookmark barely making any progress through the pages. She reached down to pick it up and blinked at it. Then she looked to Lena, who was climbing to her feet. “Did you just throw a book at me?”_

_Lena crossed her arms. “You’re invulnerable. I should be able to throw satisfyingly hard objects at you sometimes.”_

_“I don’t know if I agree with that,” Kara stated, replacing the book on the table. “But, this is important.”_

_“I know,” Lena replied, grabbing Kara’s arms and looking her in the eyes. “And we have to discuss it all but maybe not at three in the morning when I have to be up for a full day of work in two hours, okay?”_

_Lena pulled her back into bed and Kara let her. Her mind was still racing but she didn’t have to keep Lena up with her stream of consciousness. Lena left a quick kiss on her cheek before turning the opposite way to try to go back to sleep. Kara laid on her back. There were so many things to consider and so many decisions to be made. But, there was one overall thought that made her smile wide. She turned and reached out for Lena, pulling her close and hugging her from behind. _

_“Kara,” Lena admonished._

_Kara bent her head to Lena’s ear, smiling still. “Lena.”_

_“What?” Lena groaned._

_“We’re having another baby.”_

“I’m gonna do it.” Kara held Ethan in her arms.

“Kara Zor-El, you put both feet back in this house.” Lena said it and meant it and though Kara could tell, she smiled mischievously and raised an eyebrow.

“Like this?” Kara stepped all the way through the door to the backyard.

“You better keep both feet on the ground.”

Kara lifted off the ground. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that.”

Krypto ran into the yard barking, which alerted Lori who then came running.

“I wanna come!” she yelled when she saw Kara.

Kara shook her head. “Not this time, is’kal. Stay here with mom.”

“You _all_ better stay here. I’m warning you, Kara.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t drop him.”

Kara shot into the sky, laughing with exhilaration. Ethan was squirming and giggling. “Do you like flying, nugget?”

His response was to blow a raspberry. When she listened, she could hear Lena’s string of curses that were all very much directed at her and Kryptonians in general.

She spun around, holding Ethan at arms length and zooming him around the sky like an airplane. He was all smiles. Kara wondered if it was in their DNA, to love flying. Even though she wouldn’t have been able to fly on Krypton, as soon as it was a possibility, she fell in love with it. It calmed Lori at a very young age and Ethan clearly loved it even if he didn’t really know what was happening.

As she went higher the air became colder and she tucked Ethan into her chest and wrapped her cape around his tiny body. She hovered there, looking across the span of suburbs all the way to the twinkling lights of National City. It was strange being so far away from the city that she thought of as her responsibility, but she never thought she would get the family she had now and she loved every second of it. Despite her fears, she had made it work. It was crazy and definitely not normal or perfect but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

She realized she had been gone longer than she had intended and Ethan was yawning and falling asleep in her arms. She lowered to the ground, touching down softly. Kara briefly wondered if Lena had locked the door on her, but it was still open. The lights on the first floor were off so she crept through and up the stairs. She unwrapped Ethan from her cape and put him to bed; he didn’t stir. She checked on Lori, her breathing slow, signaling that the little girl was asleep.

The television was on in their room, the news coming to an end so Kara switched it off. She leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom, watching Lena wash her face. Lena knew Kara was there but she chose to ignore her. She pushed past Kara into the bedroom when she was done. “You really test my limits.”

Kara sidled up behind her, laying her hands on Lena’s waist and bending to kiss the back of her neck. “You love me.”

Lena turned in her arms, grabbing hold of the cape. “It’s the suit.”

Kara pretended to be offended but Lena was tugging her closer and closer until they were flush. Lena definitely had a thing for the suit but Kara had known that for a while. She one hundred percent used it to her advantage.

Lena’s hands ran up Kara’s thighs, her skirt rumpling. Kara unclasped the cape and let it drop behind her, to the floor. Lena looked up, snubbed. “I can’t believe you took the best part from me.”

“Oh, that’s the best part?” Kara asked, pulling Lena’s hips and crushing their lips together.

Lena smiled. “That’s not a bad second.”

Lena reached around her waist, unzipping the skirt. Kara was impatient; getting the suit off was a process and she could do it much quicker by herself. “Lena, please let me do it.”

Lena grumbled, “You’re not fun,” but stepped back. In seconds, Kara was standing before Lena, her undergarments the only clothes left. “On second thought, don’t let me get in your way.”

The red sunlight filled the room. They never had sex without it because even though Kara was comfortable with it now, she still wasn’t sure if she could manage without help. Lena had made it clear about her desire to try but never pushed. Kara stroked her cheek. “One day I’ll get there and we’ll do it.”

After almost seven years, it seemed like a weak statement but sometimes things took Kara a lot longer than they needed to. Lena smiled, clearly not believing a word and pushed Kara back onto the bed, dropping her robe as she went.

It was hectic. Lena couldn’t afford to stay away from work for long and Supergirl was called away at a moment’s notice. Kara couldn’t pull off bringing two kids into the office; it was too much of a distraction and unfair to everyone who worked there.

They couldn’t keep imposing on their friends who had jobs, even when they were being more than gracious and watched the kids whenever Lena and Kara were really in a bind. They had argument after argument. There was no way they could risk putting the kids into daycare and even if they could, neither of them wanted to be away from either Ethan or Lori for long periods of time. Finally, Lena had enough of their conversations going nowhere. “This is how it’s going to be. You continue taking Lorelai to CatCo. No one minds. We’ve done it for years and it’s fine. And the DEO is now just as open to her as it is to you because of Winn. She’s taken care of. I will take Ethan to work with me and I will get a nanny to watch him in my office when I have things to take care of. Sound good? Good.”

It was not a question but Kara had not seen anything wrong with it anyway and agreed readily. But, outside of the times when they were at work, they still sometimes ended up in a pickle.

Lena had a dinner to attend. Usually, Kara would accompany her but no one was free. Alex and Maggie had already watched them on night that week. James and Lucy were out of town and Winn was a bit too nervous now that there were two for Kara’s liking. Sam had to attend the same dinner as Lena and already was looking for a sitter for Ruby. So, they decided Kara would stay home.

Kara was holding Ethan when she kissed Lena goodbye and Lori yelled from the living room, “Bye, mommy!”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Yes. We will be perfect.”

Perfect wasn’t the best word for Kara to have used and Lena didn’t know why she was surprised to come home to the ruins of what had once been a house. The couches had been demolished into a fort, blankets and pillows strewn across the floor. There were a lot of random clothing articles creating a path from the second floor to the living room. There was an obvious smell of baking in the air and Lena was scared to even poke her head into the kitchen. Popcorn had been knocked over, scattered across the carpet and there was a quarter tray of brownies left on the coffee table.

Kara was passed out on the floor, Ethan lying on her chest. Somehow, even in sleep, Kara had a vice-like grip on her son so he didn’t roll off. Krypto had taken to the half of the couch that was still standing and Lori had face-planted on top of him with chocolate smeared across her cheek.

Lena squatted next to Kara and tried to wake her. “Kara, darling.”

Kara smiled without opening her eyes.

“What is with the disaster zone?”

“We had fun.” Kara tugged and with a yelp from Lena, pulled her to the ground and under her arm.

Kara murmured into her hair. It wasn’t anything in particular, just contented noises. Lena laughed. “Kara, we need to get them to bed.”

Lena could feel Kara shake her head. “They’re both sleeping fine.”

“So, we’re going to sleep on the floor?” Kara pulled her closer and she nestled her head in Kara’s side. It wouldn’t have been Lena’s first choice, especially fully dressed, but she could not find it in herself to care.

Kara’s dreams were changing. They felt more like visions now; something from another past. They were distorted and ever warping. And, they were no longer about Argo. They took place in an unknown terrain that she didn’t recognize. There were bright fields and dark, haunting forests. But no matter the surroundings, there was always one thing the same. There was always a woman. Her back was always turned. Kara could never see her face.

Kara wasn’t displeased that her nightmares of Krypton’s destruction had faded. They had plagued her for years; she had never thought she’d be rid of them. She much preferred waking up in the morning and having the red and orange light of the sunrise remind her of her childhood home. Those were the memories she wanted to keep close to her heart.

But there was a bit of concern that a new type of dream had taken over. It was unnatural. Both Lena and Alex agreed that these didn’t seem like normal dreams but neither of them had any idea what they could be. J’onn had considered premonitions but it didn’t seem like they foretold anything. They were just flashes of images without meaning.

They often resulted in headaches. Kara went to Alex for help, but all of the scans she ran came back normal without any indications that her body was experiencing pain. But Kara could feel them well enough. They were never migraine level of intensity, but they often lasted hours as a persistent dull throbbing.

Lena tried to joke about her finally being able to feel a little bit of what being a human was like, but Kara could see straight past the humor to the concern. She found out that Lena had called Kal who had unfortunately informed her that he had never had a headache in his entire life and couldn’t imagine what that felt like. Kara had called him and yelled at him about scaring Lena for no good reason and then apologized because it wasn’t his fault. Lois had taken the phone from him and said that if Kara wanted to yell at her husband, she could do it any time, no apology needed.

Lori became extra clingy, never leaving Kara’s side when she was home. She trailed her around the house. She brought whatever she was playing with into whatever room Kara was in. She tried to climb into bed with them every night. Lori could feel the unease emanating off of Lena. She hated being the subject of her daughter’s concern. That was the opposite of the way it was always supposed to be.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just switching out one holiday for another

“Jeju! Jeju! Fly time!” Lori was jumping around at the bottom of the stairs and Kara homed in on the voice from the living room.

It was the newscaster speaking. “A high-speed chase just began on the interstate near exit thirty-two. It looks like the cops are falling behind –“

He continued to summarize the events as Kara suited up. When she got downstairs, Lena was by the door, holding Ethan, and Lori shouted, “Jeju! Saving the day!”

Kara kissed Lena and stroked Ethan’s head. She turned to go but felt her cape snag and halted. Turning around she saw Ethan reaching out from Lena’s arms, his small hand grasping her cape, tightly. Lena chuckled. “I guess Jeju’s not allowed to leave.”

Kara got close to Ethan. “Jeju has to leave, nugget. I’ll be back so soon you won’t even know I’m gone.”

She kissed his head, unclenched his tiny fingers from her cape and took off into the sky.

“Alex? Winn? Anyone there?”

Static came over the comm and then Alex’s voice rung through. “You on your way?”

“Heard it on the news.”

“It’s not just a car chase. It’s a gang of K’hunds.”

Kara groaned. It wasn’t going to be difficult but instead of just stopping a car, she would have to take them as prisoners to the DEO. She needed to get back home as quickly as possible. They were leaving for Midvale early the next morning and a long car ride on little to no sleep never fared well.

She followed the sound of sirens to the interstate. There was one car ahead, weaving in and out of lanes. Only two cop cars were following it and they were falling behind, being careful of the innocents in the cars around them.

Kara scanned the road ahead, trying to find an open space that could prevent collateral damage. There were no cars on or near exit forty. She dipped lower, making sure she was in their sight so she could direct them where she wanted them to go.

It worked. As they neared the exit, she flew around them faster than they could process and slammed down onto the hood of the car. The back end flipped upward. She dug her fingers into the metal, trying to stop it from flipping over entirely. Finally, the back end slammed back down and the K’hunds got out. Any human would have been concussed and bleeding but the K’hunds were able to withstand a lot more damage.

“Let’s not make this hard.” She tried to stop whatever fight they were going to start with her, knowing that it wasn’t going to work. Instead of heeding her warning, they ran at her. She cracked one on the jaw with a strong uppercut that sent him flying into the sky and slamming back to Earth. One down. The next came at her low, reaching for her legs. She whipped her cape out from behind her and it twisted around his wrist. With a flick of her own, she threw him into the side of the car. He wasn’t down for good, but it gave her time to deal with the one who was coming up behind her. She flipped backward, landing behind him. With the palm of her hand landing in the middle of his back, she sent him flying. Behind all the surrounding noise of cars and sirens and choppers, she heard a crack. He lay prone on the ground, breathing but not moving. 

The one who had slammed into the car was getting himself back up. K’hunds always fought. She had never run into any that had surrendered. But, when it was up against her, it was always to their detriment. They were stronger than humans but not nearly as strong as a Kryptonian under a yellow sun.

“You alright, Kara?” her sister asked.

“Dealing with the last one.”

He lunged at her and she sidestepped him. Reaching out, she grabbed him by the front of his jacket and decked him in square in the face. His eyes rolled up and he passed out, his limp body hanging from her clenched fist.

Vehicles were swarming the scene and she noticed the unmarked black trucks the DEO used to haul prisoners. They opened the back doors for her, and she lobbed the unconscious bodies into the back as the agents began to restrain them, in case they woke up mid-transit.

“You need me to come in and help when they arrive?”

“No, we got this. Go home.”

“You need to go home too.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Mom will kill you –“

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kara.”

“Did you match on purpose?”

Kara answered the door with Ethan on her hip. That morning she had dressed him in a tiny pair of jeans and a red and black flannel. She herself was wearing almost the same outfit but her shirt was not a flannel and it lay open, revealing a white v-neck underneath. Eliza had pointed out how much she looked like Alex and would not let it go. Lena joined in before kissing her and wishing her a “Happy Thanksgiving.”

“So, now you want to kiss my sister?” Kara had asked her.

Lena walked away to the kitchen. “I’m sure your sister’s a great kisser.”

“Hey! That wasn’t a ‘no’!” Kara yelled behind her.

Kara ushered Winn in the door. “Eliza wanted a new family photo.”

Ethan was staring wide-eyed at Winn. Kara nuzzled his belly with her finger. “Can you say ‘hi’ to your Uncle Winn? Say ‘hi.’ Say ‘hi.’”

“Come ‘ere, buddy,” Winn said, leaning in to hug them both. Ethan squirmed and let out a small cry. Winn looked worried but Kara shook her head. “He’s been in a mood this morning.”

Winn had come alone as he usually did. Kara often wondered if he was lonely, but she never thought it was appropriate to bring it up. He was constantly surrounded by couples, which had to be hard, especially during the holiday season. He never complained and always seemed to enjoy himself so though Kara had mentioned it to Lena and Alex and James, they all agreed to let it go. They did not need to get involved in Winn’s love life or lack thereof and if he was perfectly happy how he was, then there was no reason for them to interfere.

Winn’s attention was caught by something down the hallway. “Is…is J’onn wearing an apron?”

He looked half appalled and half like this had just become the best day of his life. Kara snorted. “Eliza’s really been putting him to work.”

“Are they –“

“That’s not something we ever need to talk about.”

“Okey dokey. Mouth shut.”

Eliza and J’onn had become very close. Kara never suspected it to be as close as Winn was insinuating but they seemed to rely heavily on each other. Something about their shared connection through Jeremiah created a bond between them that no one was expecting. Kara did not think Eliza would ever date or marry again. And so, when she looked at J’onn and Eliza together, all she saw was too people who were lonely and found solace in each other. They were both a little less alone when they were together.

“Am I the first one here?”

“I mean Lena and Lorelai are here.”

“I figured.”

“And Alex and Maggie.”

“Okay so –“

“And obviously J’onn.”

“Okay, Kara, you could’ve just said no.”

“Yeah but we were all here yesterday so I didn’t think it would really count.” Ethan blew through his lips and giggled. “Am I right, little guy? It doesn’t count, does it. No, it doesn’t. No, it doesn’t.”

Winn followed Kara into the kitchen, hanging his jacket up in the closet. Lena was leaning against the counter in a white shirt and a loose scarf that matched Kara’s shirt. Maggie and Alex were both entirely in black like usual. J’onn was as well except for the fall apron that Eliza had tied around him earlier as he was mashing potatoes.

Lori was dressed exactly like her brother and sat on the floor, transfixed on the parade. Krypto loped into the kitchen, jumping up to lick Winn’s face and then circle his legs so he couldn’t walk.

There was a thumping sound as someone bounded down the stairs. “I think they’re here. I think they’re here.”

“Lucy and James?” Eliza asked while putting the turkey into the oven.

“I don’t think they’re coming until later,” Lena answered. The plan was that the Danvers Thanksgiving dinner would be in the evening and Lucy and James would come directly from the airport once their flight landed.

Maggie came down the stairs, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as Alex flung open the front door and jumped out onto the porch. “It’s Sam and Ruby.”

Alex and Sam had become the best of friends almost immediately. Maggie was the first to show annoyance. She wasn’t begrudging Alex a friend, it was a good natured annoyance that everyone else felt as soon as they entered a room that Alex and Sam were in together. They were the absolute worst. They already had about a thousand inside jokes and were insufferable whisperers. They thought they were both the funniest people in the world when everyone else could only groan at their attempts at humor.

But Alex had another agenda in mind that made her nervous and overly excited. Sam and Ruby were more often than not on their own. They didn’t have any other family aside from each other. Alex had invited them in hopes that they could become part of their constantly growing family. They had met everyone apart from Eliza, J’onn and Lucy but Alex was still nervous that things were not going to be perfect. Lena had mentioned that it seemed Alex was more worried about being rejected than by whether or not Sam and Ruby would fit. There really wasn’t any worry about the latter and Kara couldn’t imagine that Sam would ever be so callous to snub Alex. Kara didn’t know her that well, but she didn’t seem like the type to be ungrateful.

Kara could hear the voices outside that seemed happy but somewhat hesitant and Alex’s awkwardness was not helping. Maggie stood at the door watching and shaking her head.

“I haven’t met them yet, have I?” Eliza questioned, taking off her oven mitts.

Kara handed Ethan off to Lena. He immediately grabbed her scarf tightly in his fist. “She’s the new CFO at L-Corp I’ve mentioned before, but no you haven’t officially met.”

Krypto stopped bothering Winn and followed Kara into the living room. “Lori, Ruby’s here.”

“Okay.”

“Do you think you could go say hi?”

“I’m watching.” She pointed at the television.

“You can continue watching in a minute after you go say hi. Maybe Ruby wants to watch with you.”

Lori stood up slowly, putting up as much of a fight as she could while still listening. Kara kneeled down and stopped her from going any farther. “Hey, before – remember, no special stuff today.”

“’Cause of Sam and Ruby.”

“Right.”

“When can I tell them?”

Kara reached out to fix a stray piece of her hair. In reality the best and most honest answer she could give would be never. But Kara didn’t know if that was the truth and she hated Lori having to hide a part of herself. So, the answer was: “I don’t know yet. Right now, we just can’t.”

She pouted but agreed and then took off through the kitchen. “Hi, Ruby!”

They all sat around in the living room. Ethan had finally warmed up to Winn who was sitting on the floor with Ethan bouncing in his lap. He had been shoving his entire hand into his mouth all day and now he was chewing on a hard-plastic toy. He was slobbering all over Winn who looked grossed out but wasn’t complaining. They figured he had a couple more teeth trying to come in.

The parade had ended, and Lori and Ruby were in the back yard, playing a game that looked like tag, but it could also have been something Lori made up, with rules that changed every five minutes. Krypto had been chasing them around for a while but now he was curled up at the door, asleep. Kara sat on the couch with her arm around Lena. Maggie was on loveseat opposite them while Sam sat in the chair and Alex was up on her feet. J’onn had eventually shooed Eliza into the living room but she kept sneaking back into the kitchen. Kara wasn’t surprised; she hadn’t even known J’onn cooked until this morning.

The wine had already been greatly depleted. And the snacks on the table were torn through, mostly because Lori didn’t realize that when she stuffed her hand all the way into a bowl, it displaced the rest of the contents. The table was littered with pretzels and chips. There was one turkey cookie left that Kara had been eyeing before Lena told her that maybe Ruby would want one later, so she left it where it was.

Eliza, always the mother, invited Sam and Ruby to stay the night the moment Alex poured her a glass of wine. She kindly thanked her and said she’d see what happened. But while Lena and Maggie were refilling at their usual rate, Sam was only sipping.

There was something about her that Kara had never been able to pin down. She was one of the most responsible people Kara had ever met. She was extremely capable, kind, and overall warm. But there was something else that seemed to be hidden even to Sam that Kara clung onto. She tried to not let it cloud her judgment otherwise and ignore the nagging feeling but in the calm moments, it entered her mind.

“Sam, where is Ruby’s father?”

It wasn’t meant to be mean or rude, it was simply a question that could have been avoided if Alex or Lena had mentioned anything to Eliza about Sam. But they hadn’t and from the immediate silence, Eliza knew she had put her foot in her mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t –“

“No, it’s okay,” Sam responded graciously. “It’s a common question. She doesn’t have one.”

“I never did either,” Lena commented.

“I second that,” Maggie said, taking a large gulp of wine. Alex looked at her with sad eyes.

Kara hadn’t realized how ripped apart each of their families were. She had lost both her parents and her second father. Alex had lost her dad. Winn’s father was a murderer and he had an estranged relationship with his mother. Maggie’s parents had rejected her. Lena had never known a father and lost her mother; her adoptive parents left much to be desired. And Sam had grown up with a single mother. It was a blessing that they had all found each other.

Sam raised her glass to the room. “It looks like she has a hopeful future to look forward to.”

_Ding._

Winn pulled out his phone. “James texted. Said their plane landed and they should be here within an hour.”

“Good thing!” J’onn called from the kitchen. “Looks like the turkey’s done.”

Eliza shook her head and returned to the kitchen. “The turkey cannot be done yet.”

Lena got up from the couch and picked Ethan up out of Winn’s lap. “Well then, I think it’s about time for this little boy’s nap.”

“I’ll grab Lori.”

“Can I put Ruby down too? It’s a bit early but I don’t want her to miss dinner.”

“Of course. Plenty of room. They both can fit in Lori’s bed.”

Lena looked at Kara but she waved off the concern. Lori hadn’t had a nap flying incident in a long while. It seemed to only occur when she was in deep sleep for a longer periods of time.

“Nap time!” Kara shouted as she opened the door. Lori squealed and ran away but Kara dashed after her. Ruby just stopped in her tracks and watched as Kara grabbed her up, both of them laughing.

Lori called from Kara’s arm. “Wanna have a sleepover, Ruby?”

Sam had walked outside and was standing next to her little girl, hand on her head. Ruby looked up at her mom who gave her an encouraging smile.

“Yeah,” Ruby said. The girl was shy and next to Lori she seemed even more so.

Kara had Sam follow her to Lori’s bedroom and they tucked the girls in. Kara could hear Lena cooing to Ethan from the other room. As Kara reached down to the pull the comforter up, Sam did the same and their hands touched. Kara’s vision flashed. It only lasted a second; too quick to make out what flashed before her eyes.

Kara shook her head, trying to brush off the feeling. Sam looked across the bed at her. “Are you okay?

“Head rush,” she lied.

She pushed it out of her mind for the time being. She didn’t want to ruin the holiday with Alex making a multitude of calls to the DEO or by Lena zoning out to come up with a solution. It may have been a coincidence; but where Sam was concerned, the coincidences were multiplying.

“I got you, I got you!” Everyone could hear James’ voice and squealing. He had walked in the door and upon hearing Lori was taking a nap, wanted to be the one to wake her up. Sam had gone up for Ruby at the same time who was much quieter and rubbing at her eyes as her mom carried her down the stairs. Ethan woke up with a wail at the noise Lori was making. James yelled down that he “got that one too.”

“He’s training.”

“Are you pregnant?” Alex asked Lucy, almost yelling.

She laughed, “No, we’re trying.”

“Don’t do that to me,” Alex clutched at her chest.

“Thought you weren’t into kids, Danvers,” Lucy said playfully.

“Only when they’re other peoples,” Kara mocked in her best Alex impression. Alex stuck her tongue out and shoved Kara.

James came down the stairs faster than Kara liked while carrying her two children. She reached out and took Ethan from him. Lori on the other hand loved the fact that he was holding her under his arm like a football.

“Where’s Lena?” Lucy asked. “I haven’t seen her in forever.

Alex shrugged. “She disappeared with Maggie a while ago and they haven’t come back.”

“They went to the store.”

“Oh, what did you need, mom?” Alex asked, while sneaking a look in the oven.

“Nothing, they just said they had to go get something.”

Five minutes later, just in time for dinner as Eliza set the rolls down, Lena and Maggie come back through the door with a “woot woot” and held up a case of six bottles of wine.

“I don’t think we really needed anymore wine,” J’onn commented.

“We kinda drank it all,” Lena explained. “But we’ve replenished so no worries.”

“Thank god,” Lucy said, coming around the hallway corner and going in immediately for a hug with Lena. “I’ll need at least three after that flight.”

“Well hurry up before everything gets cold,” Eliza reprimanded gently.

When all glasses were poured, kids wrangled into chairs, and all seats chosen, Kara stood up to begin another Thanksgiving tradition. “I could never be more thankful for the family that I’ve found with all of you. You all have saved my life countless times and I can’t imagine one of you missing today. So, thank you for everything.”

“That’s the same thing you say every year,” Winn said.

“Except for Winn,” Kara added. James and Alex snickered.

She sat down and they went around the table.

Next was Lori who stood up on her chair and looked around at everyone. “I’m thankful for…”

“The food?” Kara egged her on.

“No.”

“Your grandma?”

“Yeah, but no.”

“Come on, Lori, or we have to skip you.”

“No, no, no,” she jumped up and down in protest. “Um… my best friend, Ruby!”

Kara helped her sit back down and then it was Ethan’s turn. When asked the question he gurgled and threw his bread on the floor. Then Ruby who said, “my mom” and Kara thought Sam was going to cry.

Then Sam, “I’m thankful for you too Ruby,” – she looked around the table – “and that you so graciously welcomed us into your family.”

“I’m thankful for my ability to consume ridiculous amounts of wine,” Maggie said. “Okay but also that Alex fell in love with me, because without her, I would not be surrounded by people I love today.”

Alex squeezed her hand. “I’m thankful that I have the hottest wife ever.”

Kara started to say something but Eliza cut her off. “Do not start this again girls.”

“Lena’s hotter,” Kara managed to say quickly. She got a glare from Eliza and a poke in the side from Lena.

“I am thankful that my girls have come back to celebrate with me every year and for my beautiful grandchildren.”

“I am thankful that I have a family again,” J’onn said on his turn.

James went. “I am thankful for this glorious looking food in front of me and that I get to share it with all of you.”

“I am thankful for this guy,” Lucy said, elbowing James. “And for the Danvers sisters who are the greatest friends anyone could ask for” - she looked at Sam – “You really lucked out with these two.”

“I never got to celebrate Thanksgiving,” Winn began, “We didn’t do it. There wasn’t much to be thankful for. Until you guys. So… thanks.”

“Well, I feel like I’m just repeating what everyone said. You are the family I found, well, maybe fell into,” Lena said, looking at Kara. “But, I couldn’t ask for a better one. I truly love all of you.”

“And,” Lena continued with a smirk, “my wife is pretty hot too, Alex.”

Alex grimaced. “Oh, no, I cannot – no, I’m not – no. Gross.”

“Okay, okay,” Eliza said, gathering everyone’s attention back to the table. “Let’s eat!”

Ethan screamed a lot, with joy, when Lena fed him sweet potatoes. Lori on the other hand scrunched her nose up at the sight of the orange mush. “Lori, you don’t know what you’re missing,” Kara had said, “it’s like dessert.” Lori had shaken her head, completely refusing to try them.

Winn and Maggie were both well on their way to drunk, their bodies fallen as far into the couch as possible. Ruby and Lori were lying on the floor, their faces staring with rapt attention at the television set as they watched _Miracle on 34th Street_. Sam was washing dishes with Eliza and J’onn and James were in some heated discussion that Kara was trying not to listen to. Lucy was mediating as much as she could, but she looked uncomfortable and didn’t seem to want to take sides.

Alex had gone upstairs to put Ethan to bed and hadn’t come back yet. Kara looked up from her spot on the floor and saw that she was sitting in the chair next to his crib, a book in her lap. Kara smiled. Lena reached out to stroke her hair mindlessly.

“Are you happy?” Lena asked. Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. But Kara picked it up loud and clear. She could hear Lena from miles away if she had to.

Kara nodded and hummed. “Are you?”

“Of course.”

“You didn’t want to spend it with your mom?”

She had had a couple more lunches with Siobhan, but their relationship was stagnant. They hadn’t moved forward. Lena was hesitant and Siobhan wasn’t pushy. It never crossed Lena’s mind to spend the holiday with her biological mother. She wanted to spend it with her family. Kara had never before brought it up, so the question surprised her.

“I’m happy _here_.”

“Kara. Kara, wake up!” Lena begged.

Kara was hovering in the middle of the room. Arms at her sides, hands in fists like some sort of angelic figure. But her eyes were glowing, prepping to fire.

Lena had woken up, her body sensing that she was in the bed alone. When she blinked her eyes open, she had seen Kara in the position she was currently in. For a moment, Lena couldn’t process, and she had an overwhelming fear that there was some type of danger in the room and Kara was protecting as she always did. But when she looked around, she found that they were the only ones in the room and Kara wasn’t responding to her in any way.

No movement or words could shake the trance she appeared to be in.

“Kara, please.” Lena tugged at her shirt, but she didn’t move at all. Two instincts were fighting against each other in her body: the one that woke the house to the immediate problem versus the one that wanted to figure it out without a fuss.

It became clear quickly that wherever Kara was, it was not the room that Lena stood in. This was unprecedented. Her eyes still glowed but they seemed stagnant. Her worry that Kara would burn down the house was gone but her fear that Kara was gone from her, was very real and very poignant. If she couldn’t get through to her, who could?

A cry started. A kid cry, high pitched and frightened. And then a shout of, “Mommy!”

There was a thud from another room and all of a sudden Kara dropped to the floor in a heap. Lena quickly went to her and crouched down, pushing the hair out of her eyes. She couldn’t make out the words, but she could hear voices in the hallway. The crash seemed to have woken the house.

“Lena?”

“Oh, thank god,” Lena whispered, drawing Kara into a tight hug.

“Lena, what happened?”

“I don’t know.”

Kara was involuntarily shaking in Lena’s arms. “I think I blacked out.”

Lena clutched her closer. She could feel her own heart racing a million beats per second.

“My head hurts.” Kara grimaced in pain. Lena could see it written all over her face. She looked like she did when kryptonite turned her veins green but this time, there were no visible signs of distress.

There was a knock at the door, and it was pushed open before either of them answered. It was Alex and upon seeing them on the floor she flung the door open entirely. “Are you guys okay? What happened?”

Lena was stroking comforting circles on Kara’s cheek. She looked up at Alex with big eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Over here!” someone shouted. It sounded like Maggie.

“What’s going on?”

Lena couldn’t distinguish one person from the next, she was too focused on Kara.

“I heard noises.”

“Is everyone okay.”

“Sam?”

“Ruby, why are you crying?”

“Mommy?”

“I’m fine. I don’t know what’s happening.”

“It’s Kara.”

“It’s mommy.”

A huge surge of people entered their room and Lena felt overwhelmed immediately. She had nothing to give as answers to their multitude of questions and everyone was talking at once. Both Eliza and Alex had swooped in on Kara, pulling her from Lena’s arms. The only thing she could do now was wrap them around herself.

“Lena, is she okay?”

Sam was holding a terrified Ruby in her arms. The girl was looking at her mom with eyes that held tears. She clung to her neck.

“Jeju!” came another shout.

Lena rushed from the room, pushing through what felt like a throng of people. She found Lori standing in the middle of the empty hallway, sniffling and wiping at her tear stained face. Lena swept her up into her arms. “Baby, it’s okay.”

“I’m scared.”

“Sssssh,” Lena tried to calm her. “Everything is okay.”

“I’m scared for Jeju.”

“You or me?” It had become the question they asked her. It was the easiest way they found to figure out if she was experiencing her own feelings or Lena’s. Since it was almost indescribable for her, the one-word response was intuitive and didn’t require thought.

Lori buried her face in Lena’s neck. “You.”

Without warning, Kara appeared next to her. Lena heard voices from behind them.

“Kara, come on!”

“Sweetie, please.”

“Get in bed.”

“Is she okay?” Kara questioned, ignoring her family’s pleas for her. Her arm wrapped around Lena so that Lori was pressed close between both of them.

“Are you okay?” This wasn’t surprising but it was infuriating. Lena was desperately worried about Kara and instead of taking care of herself, she was making sure Lori was okay. To be fair, there would be no situation in which Lena wouldn’t do the same. Nothing she thought of could ever come before Lori or Ethan. This moment was a perfect example. Lori was in need and without thinking, Lena left Kara. Yes, she left her with other people. But, she wasn’t sure the lack of people would have stopped her. She knew that Kara would have done the exact same, though being a Super, she may never have come across the same situation. Before the kids, they were everything to each other. Kara was the most important thing in Lena’s life but after, something switched. There was an unspoken knowledge that they came first.

“I’m fine,” Kara shook her head, indicating that they would talk about it later.

“Jeju?”

“I’m here, is’kal.”

Lori looked at Kara. “And you’re okay.”

Kara smiled her usual wide, sunny smile. “Of course, I’m okay.”

Kara reached out, taking her from Lena’s arms. “Let’s put you back to bed, okay?”

Lori nodded into Kara’s chest as she carried her out of the room.

Lena felt frozen. She was still in shock. It had only been five minutes, but it felt like forever. She had just witnessed Kara, her wife, the love of her life, Supergirl, incapacitated and not in control of herself. It was more frightening than she ever thought it would be. Lena had never thought that under her own volition, Kara would do anything that would result in the harm of her family. But Lena remembered red kryptonite and she remembered Superman under the influence of silver kryptonite. It was hard to forget. And if that was what this was, then Kara wasn’t Kara, and anything would have been possible. Not knowing what jarred her out of it might have been the worst part. How was she supposed to fix it the next time it happened?

“Hey.”

Lena looked up. No one had come to her in the hallway, they were all still in her and Kara’s bedroom. “Hey.”

“Are you okay?”

“No.”

“I’m fine, Lena.”

“You’re not.”

“Okay, no, but in general I’m fine.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Kara responded with blatant honesty, which Lena was only happy for, “But my head is killing me.”

It seemed like a human problem, so they had tried human drugs. They hadn’t worked. No one was surprised. Lena wished there was something she could do. “Sleep?”

“I can try.”

“Kara, what happened?” Alex’s voice cut through their relative silence.

Kara could only rub at her forehead and shake her head.

“Mommy flies.”

Everyone turned to Sam who had a look of incredulity on her face. “What?”

“Mommy was flying.”

Sam chuckled. “You were dreaming.”

“Oh.”

Alex’s brow furrowed in thought. No one said anything in defense of Ruby’s statement.

Lena was floored at Kara’s ability to make sure everyone else was okay before herself. It was something they had fought over many a time. But this time, she was grateful for it.

Kara stepped away from her, hands out, trying to create an environment of calm that everyone could exist in despite the rampant anxiety. “Let’s all go back to bed. It’s late. This has been an interesting night.”

“At best.”

“I know it’s been crazy too. I don’t know what’s happening. But I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere tonight.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, honey?” Eliza said.

Kara nodded and put her hand on Eliza’s shoulder. “I would be better if everyone would please go back to sleep. We can talk all we want tomorrow.”

There was a hesitation but also a murmur of agreement and a dispersal of people. Lena, still shell-shocked, was directed back to the room by Kara. When the door shut, Kara sighed loudly and stopped being the vision of strength. Her shoulders dropped. Lena thought she might have to crawl to the bed, but she made it, falling onto it as soon as she could. Her eyes were closed so tight Lena thought it would make her head hurt worse.

Lena climbed in after her. She was lost. She didn’t know how to touch her own wife; the woman she had touched for the last six years. Everything was scrambled and confused. Kara was Supergirl, she was Kryptonian, which meant nothing that was happening to her made sense. In a perfect reality, Lena knew she wasn’t actually invincible. It was a great line to have. It helped save her life many a time. People really didn’t think she could be killed and so they underestimated themselves. But Lena knew there were things out there and it was only a matter of time. The fact that something was causing her frequent pain was concerning. It was new. They had never come up against it before. It made Lena question whether they were being safe enough. Because this was Kara that was hurting, not just Supergirl.

“What can I do for you?”

“Hold me.” Kara’s voice cracked. Tears leaked from her closed eyes. She was trying to stop them. She always did. Lena hated it. “I’m sorry.”

Lena wrapped Kara in her arms. “Don’t.”

“But I –“

“Stop it. This wasn’t your fault.”

“But I scared everyone.”

There was no disputing that.

“I don’t remember it.”

“I know.”

“I don’t like that.”

“I know.”

“What happened?”

“We can talk about it tomorrow, like you said.”

“Please.”

“Sleep, Kara,” Lena whispered, stroking her hair.

“I’m scared.”

All Lena wanted to do was agree because she was terrified. But she knew that wouldn’t help. So, she swallowed her own fear. “We will figure this out. Together.”

“El mayarah,” Kara said, falling asleep. She looked exhausted.


	15. Chapter 15

_She didn’t notice Lena enter the apartment. She didn’t notice heels clicking or a bag being set down. She hadn’t heard the phone ring or the incoming message from Alex that read: _Heads up. Maggie spilled

_None of this registered because her laughter was echoing around the apartment as the ball of fur pounced all over her. It drowned out everything else; until Lena cleared her throat abnormally loud. She clenched the puppy to her chest and bolted up, “Lena!”_

_Lena had one hand on the counter, one hand on her hip, and an eyebrow raised so high it almost disappeared. _

_“I wasn’t expecting you home this early.” The dog was wiggling around, licking at Kara’s face. _

_“It was very surprising today when I received a text from Maggie that said, ‘So excited for you to meet the new addition.’ And no other explanation. So, of course I had to come home and see.”_

_Kara lifted the dog up farther and held him out toward Lena, “Well, here it is.”_

_Paws were going every which way as the puppy itched to be put down. Kara did so and he bounded at Lena, sniffing around her feet and setting his paws against her legs. He was looking up at Lena wanting to be pet. Lena picked him up, scratching behind his ears. His eyes closed contentedly, and his tongue lolled outside his open mouth._

_Kara watched Lena nuzzle him and talk in a baby voice that made Kara’s jaw drop to the floor. Lena had turned into a whole new person in front of her eyes. “Does the little guy have a name?”_

_Kara shuffled her feet, “Kinda.”_

_Lena looked up over furry ears, “Am I allowed to know? Or do I just have to call him ‘puppy’?”_

_“I kinda started calling him Krypto,” her voice became louder as she fell into a ramble,” But, I don’t think it stuck yet so we can change it if you don’t like it.”_

_Lena smiled and pecked her on the cheek, “I love it.”_

“Hi, Mom. Hi, Jeju.” Lori padded down the hallway past the living room and into the kitchen.

Kara heard the fridge open. Lena looked at her. “Was that a -?”

“Cat.” Kara nodded. She ignored the headache that had been building since she woke up. Lena dropped the ice pack and they jumped up and rushed to the kitchen where Lori was lifting herself up onto the counter, cat still under her arm. The fridge door was wide open, and a carton of milk was out on the counter. Kara crossed her arms. “Lori, what are you doing?”

“Feeding my cat.”

“No, no,” Lena mumbled.

“What do you mean _your_ cat?” Kara questioned calmly. Lori grabbed a bowl and started pouring milk in it. “Lori, where did you get the cat?”

“It’s a kitten, Jeju,” Lori said as if Kara had committed a horrible crime by giving it the wrong title. “Her name is Streaky.”

“But where’d you get it?”

“Outside on the porch.”

“Is’kal, you can’t just bring stray animals into the house.”

“It might have fleas or a disease.”

Lori set the kitten on the counter in front of the milk, its little pink tongue lapping it up. “She likes me.”

Kara quickly did a scan and saw no fleas. She whispered her finding to Lena, who shook her head. “We don’t need another animal.

Krypto joined them in the kitchen, sniffing around, wondering at the new scent. When Lori saw him, she grabbed the kitten, hopped to the floor and introduced the two. “Krytpo, this is your new friend, Streaky.”

The kitten mewed and Krypto sniffed before sticking his tongue out and licking the kitten. He sat back on his haunches, panting and looking between the kitten and the two women standing above him as if to ask if they could keep it.

“You can’t say no to the dog, he doesn’t know what it means.”

Lena sighed, leaving the room. “You are taking it to the vet, and you can only bring it back if they say it’s okay.”

Lori looked up and Kara smiled down at her, reaching out to give her a high-five. Kara didn’t know what could beat this start of second-grade present.

Streaky immediately became an indispensable part of the family. So much so that it felt like they had never lived without her presence. She slept curled at the end of Lori’s bed every night, seemingly watching over the little girl. She often took Krypto’s bed though he never complained and laid down next to it instead. They got along perfectly which was all that could be hoped for. Kara did have to forbid Lori from taking Streaky flying no matter how much she begged. The cat would be scarred for life.

“Okay, nugget, come here.” Kara chased Ethan through the outdoor tables, apologizing to people as she passed. She scooped him up and returned to her table. “This little guy wouldn’t walk until four months ago and now he won’t stop.”

Siobhan smiled at her from across the table. It had been slow-going, the relationship building, and Lena was not in a rush to hurry things along. Kara knew she was fearful of once again being let down by someone who was supposed to be family; she wasn’t letting herself get close in any way. And Siobhan could tell, it was obvious, but she never pushed. She seemed happy with whatever she was allowed.

It was a little confusing for Lori and Ethan. They didn’t know exactly what to think of her. They didn’t call her grandma; they didn’t even know they were related. They just knew this was their mommies’ friend that they saw every once in a while. Kara had discussed with Lena when that bridge would be crossed but they couldn’t find a good solution. So, they answered any questions Lori posed with as much clarity as they could muster.

Ethan didn’t have many questions though he often hid behind one of them when she first came into a room. It was his usual go-to protective position in any situation. He did it with dogs he didn’t know, if a noise was too much for him, or most often than not, when Lori wanted to play with him, and he wanted nothing to do with her.

Lori was definitely a mini-Kara. Aside from the green eyes, there was no denying that fact. She had the blonde hair, the taste for sugar, and the rambunctiousness of a young Kryptonian. She used her powers like she breathed them. Kal said she was worse than Jon who was still giving them hell in Metropolis. Jon and Lori were both fliers and when they got together, there were always races and inevitable somebody slammed through a wall. Unhurt thankfully, but damage was always done. Unless they got together in Midvale or someplace off the beaten track, they mostly had to keep their distance from each other. Two Kryptonians and their three kids drew attention. There was hope for a family reunion sometime in the most likely very distant future.

Lori wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone. She said hi to everyone they passed on the street. She talked to adults like she was one. But Ethan, Ethan was shy. It was unexpected for Kara. Many things scared him. At twelve months he still hadn’t said a single word; it worried both Lena and Kara. But when he finally chose to say something, it was a complete and understandable sentence that caught them both off-guard. He wasn’t so much a late bloomer but a kid who had to be entirely sure of something before he continued with it. Even at two, he was smart. Not yet playing chess but Kara gave it two more years before Lena had taught him everything about the game.

Lena on the other hand hadn’t been surprised. She saw herself reflected in him and new exactly how to deal with his fears and anxieties. They had been through the sensitive hearing debacle once before, so Ethan didn’t struggle as much as Lori had. And though he was a fast mover now that he was walking, Lena was relieved that they didn’t have another hovering baby on their hands. Ethan’s flying capabilities had yet to show themselves. Actually, any power except for the super hearing was absent from their second child, must to Lori’s dismay. All she ever wanted to do was teach her brother how to fly. She was very disappointed to find out that he in fact, couldn’t fly. She didn’t really understand why and quietly, never mentioning the thought to anyone, neither did Kara.

“If you don’t want to stay, it’s okay. I don’t want to be a bother now that Lena’s not able to join us.” Siobhan said.

Kara shook her head furiously. “No, no, no. I don’t just come because of Lena. I think it’s important for us to know each other too.”

“I just don’t want Lena to feel –“

“I already checked with her. She said it was okay.”

Siobhan’s smile returned. “Okay, good.”

Suddenly a ringing started in Kara’s ear and pain exploded through her head. Instinctively she put a hand up to her forehead, groaning under the pressure that was building. And then her vision went black. She couldn’t tell how long but when it returned, Ethan was slipping out of her grasp. She caught him and pulled him back into her lap.

She grimaced against the pain.

“Are you alright?” Siobhan was looking at her concerned, across the table. She was half out of her seat, leaning over their plates.

“I’ve been getting headaches lately, I’m fine now.” The pain had subsided, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. With repeated testing, Alex and Eliza, who they had eventually told, had both come to the conclusion that there was no physical reason for the occurrence of the pain. So, J’onn had the idea that they should try the psychic dampeners and it worked immediately. Since they didn’t know the consequences of long-term stifling of her psychic connections, she often took a break from them. During those times, the pain ranged from nonexistent to a dull throbbing to a feeling that her head was going to split open. Whenever she put them back on, it cleared up right away.

But she wasn’t on a break from them and somehow, the pain had fought through. Her first thought was that she was getting too used to the dampener and its power was starting to diminish. But it didn’t seem like that’s exactly how the dampeners worked. It wasn’t a viral cold that learned your body’s immune system enough to overpower it. The dampeners weren’t an overused medicine. But again, all of this was new. They were playing a guessing game.

But even though the headaches were dulled, the dreams had returned. She was seeing visions of Krypton and of her mother and of Kal and of the rest of her Kryptonian family more vividly than she ever had before. They were just snippets. Some were memories. Some were images she had never seen before. There were places, people and things that were unfamiliar. She always woke up from those confused and questioning. Lena abated most of her concern saying, “They are only dreams.” Because they were. They were only dreams; they were just unfortunately ones that sometimes turned into nightmares. Or reminded Kara of loss enough that she would awake with tears in her eyes.

Dreams had always been a significant part of Kara’s life. As soon as she awoke on Earth, she dreamed of Krypton. They continued as she grew up. They began as nightmares, turned sweet and then when she took on the mantle of Supergirl, the setting was no longer Krypton, but they returned to nightmares. Many were of losing her friends. Others were her rivals besting her in a fight. Others weren’t so visual but left her feeling empty and fearful. They had abated somewhat the years after she met Lena; not entirely, but they returned to mostly dreams and the occasional nightmare that wasn’t nearly as bad as they had once been.

But with the headaches, the vividness returned. And with it came floods of emotion that evaded her consciousness after wakening. She had so many questions that seemed to no have answers.

_Lena sat next to her in bed, her knees up, tablet lying against them. Kara had been lying on her back, staring at the ceiling since she climbed under the covers. “Lena?”_

_“Yes?” Lena responded in the way that told Kara she was too preoccupied to actually be listening._

_“Are you busy?”_

_“Mmmhmmm.”_

_“Can you not be busy for a second?”_

_She sighed but turned off the tablet and set it aside, twisting onto her side to face Kara. _

_“Yes, Kara?” She smiled and asked sweetly. Lena reached out, playing with the hair near Kara’s forehead._

_Kara swallowed. “You know those dreams I’ve been having. The ones with the woman I don’t know.”_

_At first the dreams had been of her mother but then the image had morphed into something undefinable. Until lately. And Kara had been too afraid to bring it up. Too afraid of what it could mean. She had been weighing whether to tell Lena the truth. She had known for a couple weeks and couldn’t figure out what it meant. She would love to have believed it was a coincidence; her unconscious brain taking someone she knew and shoving their image into a foreign situation. But deep down, there was always an inkling that these dreams weren’t just dreams._

_“Yes, darling. I remember.”_

_“I know who the woman is now.”_

_Lena froze. “You do?”_

_Kara nodded. “I saw her face. I don’t know what it means but…its Sam.”_

It was just something else Lena had written off as the oddness of dreams. Kara couldn’t let it go though, something felt off about it.

Siobhan sat back into her chair. “That seemed like the start of something worse than a headache.”

“They’re migraine level painful. But sometimes they come and go quickly.” The lie slipped off her tongue easily. They had decided that they would most likely never disclose to Siobhan who Kara really was. If the alien thing eventually came up, they would find some other story that would explain Lori and Ethan’s powers. Kara would love to live openly, and they had discussed her revealing her identity as an alien but revealing their identity as Kryptonians seemed like the most dangerous option. It would out Supergirl. And Superman. It was a hard and perilous path that they felt shouldn’t be ventured. It put too many people’s lives at stake to know Kara was Supergirl. But, knowing she was an alien may not be as bad. They hadn’t made a decision, but it was often talked about. And not just between Kara and Lena but with Winn and Alex and J’onn. They were all leaning toward letting Kara live as an alien. There was not going to be a big story declaring to the world that the editor of CatCo magazine was an alien, but she could start hiding less. Despite the conversations and the universal thoughts that this was a possibility, there was still much hesitation, on everyone’s part, including Kara. She was conflicted in giving up the life she had built for years in exchange for the unknown.

Siobhan’s eyebrows were furrowed. “Maybe we should reschedule. If you’re not feeling well, you should get some rest.”

Kara agreed though she wasn’t going to go get rest. She was going straight to the DEO to tell J’onn that his amazing solution had started to crumble.

There wasn’t another solution. J’onn worried that amping up the power would do irrevocable damage. So, the only option was to continue on the path they had started down. And so, without a solution on the horizon, Kara decided to ignore it.

Krypto nuzzled the door, his paws scrabbling at the wood. Kara waited, watching. Finally, the doors opened and Krypto stuck his head through. He jumped in circles when he first saw Lena, tongue lolling and tail wagging.

“I brought a visitor!” Kara readjusted her bag on her shoulder as she tried to walk and not step on Krypto. She leaned in, leaving a kiss on Lena’s cheek. “Are you busy?”

“Always.” Lena smiled. “And Sam called out again so I’m on my own.

“Oh, okay.”

Lena looked up at her with an amused and acquiescing look on her face. “Kara, I will walk Krypto with you.”

Kara kissed her cheek again. “You’re the best.”

Lena padded across her office and sat down, pulling her heels out from under her desk. Krypto had gone back to the lobby where he was bothering Andrew. Sophie had moved on to bigger and better things and the new rotation had stopped on Andrew who was very young, just out of college but eager to please and quite smart. He didn’t seem to mind Krypto so much, as he was sitting on the floor as the dog jumped all over him.

“Put the leash on him.”

“Do we have to? He never runs off.”

Lena paused in the act of picking up her purse. “The dog is not running around the city without a leash.”

Kara grumpily pulled it out of her bag. “Krypto!”

He came and sat down in front of her obediently while she clipped the leash to his collar.

They walked along the sidewalk, Lena’s arm tucked under Kara’s and the leash taut as Krypto urged them forward.

“Sam called off again?”

“She said she’s having some health problems and with Ruby, she can’t chance it.”

“It seems like it’s happening a lot though.”

“I know,” Lena squeezed Kara’s arm tighter. “I’m worried about her, but she won’t talk to me about it. I think she’s worried it’s going to put her job in jeopardy, but she should know by now I’m not just her boss. She’s at our house at least once every other week. I don’t know why she’s being so secretive.”

“Maybe Alex can help. At the DEO.”

“I thought we weren’t telling Sam about the whole thing?” Lena looked at her out of the corner of her eye.

Kara shrugged. “I just want to help her.”

Lena sighed. “I’m not sure she’d take our help.”

“We’re her friends, Lena. She doesn’t get a choice – ahhhhh.” Kara winced, sucking in air. She shut her eyes tight as a wave of pain hit her head. She could feel her vision tunneling as she dropped to her knees. “Lena.”

“Kara, Kara, are you okay?”

All she could was shake her head. Krypto’s leash fell from her grip but he didn’t run, he sat down on the ground in front of her, trying to sniff out the problem.

Her head was spinning and she pressed a hand to the ground to brace herself. Lena was scrabbling in her purse for her phone. Kara’s vision was almost black.

“Alex, it’s happening again.”

She couldn’t hear Alex. Her super hearing was being clouded.

“Her eyes are glowing. We’re in public. Get here fast.”

Kara didn’t even feel the heat behind her eyes this time but with Lena’s look of panic she could tell that she was in a precarious position. But, there wasn’t anything she could do about it because there was an influx of pain and then she blacked out.


	16. Chapter 16

_“You shot into the sky, Kara. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Krypto was making a complete racket barking after you. You were so fast, there was no way the DEO was going to get there in time. It went from zero to a hundred with no warning.”_

_Kara pushed herself up on the hospital bed in the med-bay of the DEO. She couldn’t remember anything after Lena’s phone call. It was a complete blank._

_J’onn strode into the room, giving her a once over. “Are you okay?”_

_“Probably not but yes.”_

_“It’s affecting your powers.”_

_She shot him a dark look. “I got that, thank you.”_

_“We can’t have that.”_

_“Chill out, J’onn,” Alex said, coming to her defense. “It’s not her fault.”_

_“Are the psychic dampeners faulty?” Winn chimed in._

_“No, they are working perfectly fine. But they’re not going to work for this anymore.”_

_“Did I do anything?”_

_“I couldn’t see from that far away,” Lena explained. _

_“You must have. Your cells are depleted of yellow sun radiation. You solar flared.”_

_No wonder she felt so sore. “But nothing bad?”_

_Everyone shook their heads. Lena frowned. “Why would you think that?”_

_“I can’t shake this weird feeling.” It was like complete clarity had washed over her. There was no pain in her head, the memory of it even seemed strange. And though she couldn’t remember anything from the black out there was a remnant of something. It was fear mixed with confusion, hesitation, and a lot of anxiety all balled up and tied with a bow of intrigue. The feelings weren’t familiar to her at all; they didn’t feel connected to her in anyway, like they weren’t her own. But they were coming from something familiar. Of course, she didn’t know what that was as she couldn’t see through the dark. _

_Coming out of her reverie she could see that everyone was apprehensive, and she tried to reassure them. “But I honestly feel fine now. Promise. Wait a second” – she looked around – “If I solar flared, why am I not under the yellow sun lamp?”_

_Alex nodded toward Lena. “Lena, had an idea.”_

_Kara looked to her for an explanation. “It seems like whatever is going on triggers your powers. I wondered if it would stop if you didn’t have your powers.”_

_Kara looked around at everyone and pointed at her wife. “She’s so smart.”_

_“What happens if it does work? The sun will recharge her in a few days.”_

_“I can make a mini red sun lamp. Something you can keep on you at all times.” _

_“You okay with that?” Alex directed the question at Kara._

_“Well, it’s not forever, right?”_

_They all looked at each other. Obviously, there had been conversations going on before Kara woke up that she was yet to be informed about. No one looked like they wanted to say anything. J’onn stepped forward. “We can’t give you a good answer. We don’t know what this is. For the time being it is our best option.”_

_Kara let out a deep breath. Lena took her hand. “I know this is a lot. It’s entirely up to you.”_

_It was definitely a lot. She looked around at a team full of people who for the first time had no concrete answers and no concrete plan to find those answers. They looked terrified. They were so used to her invulnerability that imagining her without it was unfathomable. She wished she could tell them how much it scared her but that wasn’t what they needed her for. So, she nodded with certainty. “I’ll use the sun lamp but let me recharge first. I don’t know how my cells will respond to the immediate influence of the red sun right now.”_

_No one thought it was a bad idea until a half an hour in. Lena was sitting with her; they were chatting about nothing of consequence. And suddenly, she watched as Kara went rim rod straight and became unresponsive. Her eyes began to glow once again and her back arced off the table. It wasn’t natural, it was scary. _

_Kara was lifting in the air again. The veins of her neck were stretching against her skin. It looked like she couldn’t breathe. Lena ran to the door, calling for the others._

_Alex and J’onn rushed in first, grabbing her out of the air and pinning her to the bed. “The yellow sun can’t be doing this. It doesn’t make sense. It’s supposed to be good for her.”_

_“I don’t know, Alex,” J’onn groaned under the strain of keeping Kara put. Her body was working against them to be airborne. “But turn it off.”_

_Alex reached over to click the button. “She shouldn’t even be able to do this, she hasn’t charged enough – shit, watch out!”_

_Alex and J’onn ducked just in time as heat vision shot out from Kara’s eyes burning holes straight through the ceiling. Alex grabbed her head to stop it from jerking from side to side. They all would have been in its firing range. Too many casualties. _

_Lena was watching, helpless at the end of the bed. Her chest was heaving. _

_Thankfully Alex was right. She hadn’t charged enough, and the heat vision abruptly cut off. Kara fell limp against the bed._

_ Alex was gritting her teeth. J’onn’s fingers were rubbing against his temples. Lena couldn’t figure out whether to yell or cry._

_“Well, that does it. No yellow sun. Supergirl is done for now.”_

And so that’s how Kara ended up living without her powers which was, to put it frankly, the weirdest and least fun thing she had to do. She would prefer changing Ethan’s dirty diapers every hour, on the hour, if it meant she could fly again. But that wasn’t even the worst part. For twenty something years, they had grown to become a part of her; she hadn’t realized how much she relied on them. And it became apparent quickly how often she used them without thinking. It wasn’t the strength or the flight, it was the enhanced hearing and speed.

The crackling of the baby monitor surprised her. Usually she was already out of the room before any cries came through. Whenever she was out with the kids, her head was swiveling in every direction, trying to keep track of them. At home, she couldn’t keep up. Just because her mom was out superspeed, didn’t mean Lori slowed down. She still raced around the house. She used to laugh as Kara caught her and threw her up in the air. Now, she would stop, turn around and stick her tongue out as Kara tried to take the steps two at a time. She got out of breath. A lot. Her endurance had dropped greatly. Now she marveled as people past her on their morning runs.

Every single habit she had developed was affected by this change. And it wasn’t small; it was an extreme adjustment that flipped her life completely upside down.

_Lena dropped the usual goodies on the coffee table before falling into the couch. Her shoulder hit Kara’s bicep._

_“Ow,” Kara vocalized, rubbing her arm. “Ugh, that hurt.”_

_“I barely hit you.”_

_“I don’t usually feel it!” Kara explained dramatically._

_“Baby,” Lena laughed and settled in for the movie._

_The kids were sleeping or so Kara supposed. She couldn’t hear them. But Lena never could, and she never seemed to wonder, so Kara put It from her mind. _

_The cookies made their way into Kara’s lap as they usually did. About an hour in, Kara started fidgeting. Her stomach was somersaulting. Lena picked her head up and looked at her. “Are you alright?”_

_“I think these cookies are bad.”_

_“They’re heavily processed, I’m sure they don’t expire for at least a year.”_

_Kara grimaced. “Well, I don’t feel good. _

_Lena pushed herself up and twisted to face her. “How many did you eat?”_

_Kara gestured at the box which showed ten empty spaces and a discarded fourth of a cookie left. “Not that many.”_

_Lena started laughing. Kara knew it was directed at her and she frowned. “What?”_

_Lena laughed harder._

_“Not fair! Tell me.”_

_Lena was trying to catch her breath. “I’m not laughing at you, Kara. I’m laughing at the karma of it all.”_

_“I still don’t get it.”_

_“If I ate ten cookies at one time, what would happen?”_

_“You’d get a stomachache.”_

_Lena nodded. “Yes, Kara, you have a stomachache.”_

_Kara jumped off the couch, sending the cookies flying. _ _“No, no, no, no.”_

_“I love this.”_

_“You’re not supposed to be happy about my pain,” Kara retorted._

_“It’s a stomachache, you’ll live.”_

_“This isn’t fair.”_

_Lena snorted. “Kara, you being able to consume the amount of food you do is unfair for every human who has ever existed.”_

_This was not what she expected from not having powers. She expected to have to take time off from the DEO. She expected not to be able to get to work in five minutes instead having to use the car. She expected for cold coffee to end up in the trash. She decided this was the most egregious punishment given to humans. _

_Her mood dropped immediately. She crossed her arms and sank back into the couch, her brows furrowed so much she’d give herself a headache. _

_Lena put an arm around her and mocked her pout. “Oh, are we grumpy now?”_

_“Yes.” She was and she wasn’t ashamed._

_Lena smiled. “It’ll be okay.”_

_“I can’t eat cookies anymore.”_

_“No, that’s not true,” Lena said, “You get to eat cookies but now you only get to eat one at a time.”_

The days seemed so much longer without Supergirl duties; there was an enormous amount of extra time. Finding ways to fill it wasn’t her forte. And so she found herself, never late for a pickup, never in need of a last minute babysitter and spending a lot more time in the El Department at L-Corp. Strides had been made, more than Kara thought possible. Bringing Kryptonian science to Earth had physical impossibilities that hindered much of their research and development. It was never going to be pure Kryptonian. They were creating a pseudo version, mixing Kryptonian and Earth sciences together. Whatever could be converted was and was still being converted. There were some things they eventually had to let go, agreeing that the conversation didn’t exist, and a new way would have to be developed. There was so much that they had yet to even touch on and it had been four years in the making.

Spencer and Laura were staples. They had been the original scientists poached from the DEO to start the trial that became the El Department. They had never left. And that being the case, they were now the heads of the department. When they decided to bring in more people, it was obvious that those two were the most knowledgeable and there was no other place for them than to be in charge. Kara couldn’t invest the amount of time needed so she wasn’t even considered. They were extremely hands-on, both usually in the lab and ignoring the other duties necessary to department heads. It meant that there were often knocks on the lab door, either desperate or angry.

The board had very vocally pronounced their disagreement with the department’s creation; they hadn’t been told much about it in the first place, it was extremely secretive. And they still had qualms with it. They wanted to oust Spencer and Laura for someone with more experience running a department. They wanted a bureaucrat rather than a scientist. But, this was Lena’s pet project and she wasn’t giving it up anytime soon. Kara was appreciative but they were already on the board’s bad side. Four years was more than either of them expected an allowance. It would probably all come crashing down soon unless another form of funding was found.

Personal funds being used had already been ruled out. Lena wanted as much separation in her personal and business life as possible; that is how she had always worked. She didn’t want things wrapped up and entangled in one another. Alex had thought that was preposterous. “Kara, she’s literally a billionaire.” It was an entirely true statement, but they didn’t live the billionaire lifestyle. It often was a point of blather among gossip magazines that Lena Luthor was slumming it. No sane person could look at their life and think they were anything but privileged and well-off. But still, Kara wasn’t going to push Lena to do something she was uncomfortable with.

Right now, the El Department was another part of L-Corp. So technically Lena owned it. But it was tied in with the company. If she funded it herself, it would not only be a liability to the company, but it would become her own private venture. And even though they were married and shared everything, if there was going to be one owner of the El Department, deep down Kara wanted to be that person. It was her history being examined under a microscope. It only felt right for it to be a Kryptonian.

But, the El Department had been a wonderful gift from Lena, she would never say that out loud.

Lori wasn’t a fan of the lab; she never had been. It held no interest for her. She’d rather be anywhere else is how she put it. But, she didn’t have a choice in the matter and was sitting, grumpy in the corner, doing the multiplication table worksheet her teacher had assigned. Her scrunched up nose made Kara smile; she was cute, grumpy or not. Ethan on the other hand was enchanted. Still too young at two to have any idea what was going on, he watched the work happening around him with wide eyes.

Kara held him, explaining to him everything that was going on. Pointing at the equations on the board and describing how they compared and differed and what was missing. He liked watching Laura write on the glass board. She used an array of bright neon colors, her hand flying across the surface. Kara set him on the floor and handed him an uncapped orange marker. He scribbled on the bottom corner.

**Lena (6:18):** Can you come upstairs

Kara picked up Ethan.

**Lena (6:18):** Alone

Kara put Ethan back down.

“Laura?”

“Mmmm?”

Kara shrugged out of the lab coat. “Are you really listening?”

Laura looked up from her papers. “Now I am.”

“I gotta run upstairs really fast, could you keep an eye on them?”

“Zack!” Laura called and a younger man came running across the room. “Stop running in the lab.”

He slowed but barely as he approached. Kara thought he looked vaguely familiar from the DEO but she couldn’t be quite sure. Either he didn’t have all the information, or he signed a very, very thorough NDA. “Yes?”

“Keep an eye on the kids.”

Kara paused and put her hands on her hips. “I didn’t ask Zack.”

Laura waved the implication off with her hand. “I trust him.”

Kara scoffed. “I don’t think I believe that.”

The eager kid spoke up for himself. “I am very good with kids, Ms. Danvers.”

Kara studied him for a moment. “Don’t let Ethan eat that marker.”

As she turned to leave, Zack turned to Ethan and yelped. The little boy was already trying to stick the tip in his mouth.

“She’s free,” Andrew commented as soon as the elevator doors opened. Kara wasn’t sure he had even looked up from the computer screen he was studying.

She smiled. “Thank you, Andrew.”

“Yes, Ms. Danvers.”

She shook her head and pushed open the large wooden doors. There was something about it, the memories attached to the action. Trailing her cousin through them, rushing through them when she was on a job, strolling through them for lunch dates, and then watching her daughter peel through them with laughter. It was stupid, they were only doors. And yet…

“Close it and lock it, please.”

Kara didn’t see Lena at first, but she listened to her and when she turned back around, Lena was right in front of her, looping her fingers in Kara’s belt loops. She puffed out a breath between her lips. “I kinda wish you had left the lab coat on.”

Kara cocked her head and gave her an amused look. “Ms. Luthor, are you coming on to me?”

Lena didn’t answer. “It’s been a long day” – she walked her fingers to the front of Kara’s pants and then up the buttons on her shirt until she came to her sternum and slid them up and over her shoulders, wrapping herself around Kara’s neck – “and we don’t need the red sunlamp now.”

An upside to the lack of powers.

“Lena El-Luthor, are you propositioning me for sex?”

“Very much so,” she whispered.

“In your office?”

“Well, we can’t very well do it at home.”

The downside to kids with powers.

“I thought the office was off limits.”

“Kara, I swear to god –“

Kara cut her off with a kiss, smiling wide against Lena’s lips. She backed Lena up to the couch and as they both fell onto it, she asked, “Is this why Andrew wouldn’t look at me?”

“I did not tell my assistant I was calling my wife up to fuck me.”

Kara’s smile widened again. “Language.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“You love me.”

“Just kiss me.”

Lena’s fingers furiously unbuttoned her shirt as Kara ravished her lips. She shrugged off the shirt, dropping it on the floor next to the couch. Lena’s hands ran up and over the fabric of her sports bra. She groaned.

“They’re comfortable.”

“And they’re hot but they’re sure as hell not easy to get off.”

“Leave it on, it doesn’t matter.” Kara ducked her head, this time to Lena’s neck. Her fingers ventured down, unzipping Lena’s skirt. She sat back and helped Lena wiggle out of it.

“These aren’t easy to get off either,” she commented as she tossed the skirt aside. Kara unbuttoned Lena’s shirt as well and let it lay open, her lips immediately finding the skin of Lena’s stomach She had time to suck a couple of bruises into Lena’s skin before Lena said, “Enough.” Kara smirked.

Their lips reconnected. She had always liked listening to Lena’s breathing; it stuttered, hiccupped, stopped, and became heavy. It told her exactly what she needed to know about what Lena was feeling. But she herself hadn’t had much experience with what it felt like to lose her own breath in the midst of kissing. She found she quite liked it.

Before she could even do what she had planned, Lena grabbed at her butt and pulled her down. “Really?”

“Quick and easy, let’s go,” Lena said, urging her on.

Kara obliged, grinding down slowly and then ramping up. Her fingers twisted into the cushions of the couch to hold on and help propel her. Lena was gritting her teeth, trying not to make a sound. Her eyes were shut tight and she was barely breathing.

It wasn’t doing anything for Kara. She tried kissing Lena which also didn’t work and as soon as Lena’s jaw released, the sounds she had been holding in started to escape. But it still wasn’t getting Kara where she needed to be, so she pulled back again, keeping her movement steady. “Look at me.”

Lena opened her eyes. Her pupils were blown. Her mouth was open and lax, her breath almost gasps. The eye contact helped. Apparently, it was enough for Lena. Kara had to clamp her hand down over Lena’s mouth as a much too loud moan escaped.

She dropped down on top of Lena. They breathed with each other for a minute.

“Thanks for the quickie.”

Lena laughed. “I should be thanking you. Are you good?”

“Enough,” Kara responded.

“I don’t like that answer.”

“I’m good, Lena.” Kara pushed herself up. “I’m fine with sometimes just doing it for you.”

“I know you are, Kara, but I still want you to be okay.”

“I am okay. It’s just different.”

“Then?”

“Then it is when I have my powers,” she admitted.

“Even though we use the red sun lamp?”

“Yeah,” Kara nodded, reaching down to pick up her shirt.

Lena sat up as well. “Do you need me to do something else?”

Kara shook her head and stood up, pulling her shirt back on. It had never always been two sided. Sometimes Lena needed something Kara didn’t and vice versa. This was definitely one of those times.

“Kara.” Lena pleaded, trying to get her to talk.

She shrugged. “I just don’t know my body right now.”

“You’re upset.”

Kara reached down, a sincere smile on her face and smushed Lena’s face between her hands. “I am not upset at all. I always have fun with you.”

Lena considered her for a moment. “Okay, I believe you.”

“Thank you.” She kissed Lena’s forehead and straightened up. “Should we go get our kids and go home?”

She was expecting a, “yes,” but Lena’s sudden laugh caught her off guard. “But you can’t wear those pants out of the office.”

She looked down at the dark patch on her thigh. “Well, that’s all your fault.”

Lena grabbed her skirt and whipped it at Kara’s legs. She jumped out of the way before it could hit her, laughing. “I’ve got another one, just let me find it.”

There was an extra, but it didn’t help much. Kara Danvers walking through L-Corp in a skirt that obviously didn’t belong to her turned more than a few heads.


	17. Chapter 17

Lena sighed as the blue portal appeared, a swirling mass, in her office. She had an incredible amount of work to finish before the end of the day. They were launching a new initiative and not only in National City or the country but internationally between all of L-Corp’s offices and they were running behind. She was trying to rework the schedule to see just exactly how far back she was going to have to push the launch. They had already released initial information about the project, and it was generating buzz. Pushing back their release date could be detrimental at this time but if it wasn’t finished, she would take no risks in releasing something to public before it was not only guaranteed to worked but guaranteed as safe.

It had been partially Kara’s idea, partially an idea that had slowly been forming in her mind since Lori was born. Even with the long-ago Alien Amnesty Act, relations between humans and aliens were still often fraught. The act did the work of making aliens citizens of Earth and allowing them all rights that any natural born citizen had. Yet, that didn’t make a difference for many humans who cowered behind their fear of the unknown. Prejudice still ran rampant. Hate crimes were no more less frequent than they had always been. Her family was lucky. One human, one alien, and two half-Kryptonians. But, every single one of them passed as human and no one on first glance or second or third could tell that Kara and their two kids weren’t entirely of Earth. Others did not blend in so well.

There had been talks about opening all alien schools, businesses, daycares, yet the overwhelming conclusion was that it would put the target on the head of many already marginalized individuals. Kara had said, “I just wish there was some way that they could live their life like everyone else.” It sparked an idea that Lena brought into the R&D team who ran with it. An image inducer. Aliens would be able to present as human in public so as to avoid being obvious marks and to provide them with a semblance of safety. Was it perfect? No. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to provide a solution for people who had been waiting for years for someone to be on their side.

Kara loved it.

It did put a strain on Lena’s relationship with the DEO. The service they provided Earth was to keep the citizens out of any harm caused by violent aliens. They believed this would make their job harder since it would greatly diminish the number of aliens they could identify. Lena disagreed. There were many other factors aside from physical looks that would allow a species to be identified. The top one being if they used their powers and if the DEO were really only hunting the criminals, then there would be no shortage of occasions where species advantages were put on full show, whether they were showing their true face or not. She might have also said something along the lines of “well, if you were good enough at your job” and Alex might have clenched her fists. But overall, they had avoided any indecency. J’onn proposed she make something for the DEO specifically that they could wear to see through the image inducers. Lena declined. It was an invasion of privacy and gave the government too much power over their citizens.

She pressed the intercom button on her desk and said, “Andrew cancel my afternoon meetings,” just as a figure strutted easily into her office.

She briefly realized that this might not be a portal from their friends, and she should have been on higher alert but thankfully, standing in front of her was a smirking Sara Lance. “Luthor.”

“Lance. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Was this a bad time?”

Sara was standing before her in her White Canary suit which meant that this was a business call and not a personal call.

“Very much so.”

“Perfect,” Sara said smugly.

“Well,” Lena stood up, rounding her desk, “This is my office. Kara is not here.”

“I actually am not looking for the second hottest superhero to ever exist, right now. I am looking for her babe of a wife.”

“Okay, Sara,” Lena said, rolling her eyes. Sara was the worst flirt Lena had ever run into. Dating Ava had not tuned it down at all, but it had taken out any sort of sincerity behind the words. Now it was all in fun and though Lena never reacted how Sara wanted, if Kara had been able to, she would turn red every single time. “What can I do for you?”

“Big problem. On another Earth.”

“Earth-1?”

“Nope. Don’t actually know what the name of this one is. The Legends ran into an anomaly and currently… well to be perfectly honest this is a Barry Allen problem and Barry Allen is missing.”

Lena blanched.

“So, I’m here to enlist you.”

“Missing?”

“Okay, not missing, he told everyone he was going in the speed force.” Sara waved it off like it wasn’t important. “He’s always playing with things he shouldn’t so who knows, maybe this thing is his fault.”

“What’s going on?”

“We don’t exactly know.”

“Do I have a choice?”

She shrugged. “I mean this is the entire multiverse at stake so if you want to say no, that’s on your conscience.”

Lena didn’t read too much into that; it was always “the entire multiverse” when it came to the Legends. The anomalies’ affects could travel through dimensions and pockets and affect any Earth, not just the one on which it occurred.

“So, what do I need to do?”

“I literally have no idea which again, is why I’m here. We can show you on the ship. Will you come?”

Lena nodded and passed through the portal her foot stepping from office carpet to metal spaceship. She looked around and smiled. “I fucking love time travel.”

Hours later and there was a problem. The problem wasn’t that Lena hadn’t been able to figure out a solution, because she had. If they were on Earth-38. But this Earth worked differently. She finally understood how Kara, a genius on Krypton, felt completely ignorant on Earth.

Her hands threaded in her hair, pulling. “Ugh!”

She stopped herself from slamming down the piece of equipment she was holding. There was no positive for breaking something that if she took it back to Earth-38 would work perfectly. Not that it was needed. But it was nice to know that it existed.

Her watch alarm started beeping. “Shit.”

The room was empty. Sara had brought her to a room in the ship that seemed like a lab but was nothing like Lena had ever seen. And then she had left without any information on how to find them. She walked into the hallway but all she could see in either direction was more hallway. This was the first time on the Legend ship. Their other Earth friends had asked her for help before a couple of times, but it was either in S.T.A.R. Labs or in her own labs. She could only discern that either both hallways would circle around to the same place or halfway to the end, she’d run into the middle communal room of the ship. There had to be one.

There were open doors, closed doors, hallways leading off the one she was in that felt like they moved away from the central area of the ship. Not only did she not want to get lost, but she had an inkling that the center of the ship was connected to this long, circular hall. It was basic design and engineering. Though it could be argued that this was a time ship so nothing would make appropriate sense.

Her logic proved her right as it usually did. Eventually the hallway ended into a large chamber. Across the room began another hallway and she assumed that if she had gone left instead of right, she would have ended up in the same place. There was a circular pedestal table in the middle of the room and Sara was standing over it, concentrating hard. Zari stood opposite of her, watching but not speaking.

“How does time work here?” She had other concerns, not so much whether she was breaking Sara’s train of thought or not.

Sara looked up, obviously annoyed, but Zari answered. “Time doesn’t really exist here unless we set it. Do you have a watch?”

“That’s what I’m asking.”

“Whatever time your watch tells you is the time on your Earth.”

“Good,” Lena said, the concern leaving her. She had never told Kara she was leaving. It hadn’t even been a thought. Sometimes she underestimated the tasks that heroes generated. She thought it would be a regular workday and she’d be back. But her alarm had gone off when Lori needed picked up as it did every day. Today, Alex was picking her up so it would still be okay, but the alarm was set so she would get home no later late than two hours after Lori got out of school. Which meant she was home all evening, with her family. It often made the next day more stressful, but she thrived on the new schedule and enjoyed every single moment she spent away from the office. “Will my phone work here?”

“Honestly,” Zari started to respond, “I have no idea. Usually not, but sometimes things surprise us.”

“Try and if not, I’ll see if Gideon can connect you.”

**Sent (3:40):** I might be late

Nothing.

She waited five minutes.

Still nothing. For Kara that meant she either didn’t receive the message or she was out being Supergirl. But that was currently off the table so Lena assumed she was in a meeting. She sent a text to Alex instead.

**Sent (3:46):** Did you get Lori?

Nothing.

Which meant it was possible that Lori was abandoned at school. Abandoned made is sound worse than it was; it had happened a couple times before when they were running late or something had come up unexpectedly as if often did in their lives. Lori was taken to the after-school program and no one complained but Lena always felt a little guilty. Lori never seemed to mind either way; it gave her more time with her friends.

“I’m not getting anything.”

“Gideon?”

“Yes, Captain Lance?”

“Open communications to Earth-38, National City.”

“Supergirl?”

“Yes, Gideon.”

The voice echoed around the chamber of the ship. Lena was intrigued; she figured it was some sort of advanced AI system. She was about to ask about it when the voice returned. “I’m sorry, but direct connection to Earth-38 cannot be made. I can try to send a message through other channels.”

“Sounds good, Gideon.”

“What is the message?”

“Just let Kara know that the Legends needed my help and I may be late tonight.”

“If the message sends, I will let you know. I do not know how long this will take.”

If that was the best that could be done, she’d have to accept it. She explained to Zari and Sara that though progress had been made, the end result wouldn’t work on this Earth. “I need to speak to someone who knows more than I do. Maybe they can rework what I’ve already done to make it compatible with this Earth.”

“Gideon?”

“Yes, Captain Lance?”

The AI was advanced enough for multitasking. Lena took note.

“Where can we find such a person?”

“Metropolis.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lena blurted out. She had the vague sense that her brother was going to be involved. The idea that the person would be Lex, even a Lex from another Earth, was unfathomable. “How is it possible that out of the millions of cities this person could exist in, it happens to be Metropolis?”

“I’m sorry but my research shows that this person is the superior intellect on this planet.”

“What’s wrong?” Zari asked.

Lena didn’t know how to explain that she was still fearful of a man, that on her own Earth, had been dead many years. It seemed irrational. “Isn’t there something about having to avoid running into yourself?”

“That’s time travel not the multiverse,” Sara responded.

“Which may be a very good thing in this case,” Zari interrupted.

“Why?”

She pressed a couple buttons on the console and an image floated up into the air, hanging above them. A name. A familiar name. Dr. Luthor. And a familiar face.

“What the hell?” Sara asked with a sense of surprise.

“Kara?” Lena blurted out.

Walking to the Luthor Corp building felt like an out of body experience. She seemed to be watching herself move without choosing to. Sara was beside her, staring at her in concern. She was in shock to be sure. There was not one moment in which she assumed Dr. Luthor would refer to Kara. And seeing the face that belonged to Kara yet was so different from her Kara was jolting. What in the world was she supposed to say to another version of her wife?

Her complete confusion led to an explanation from Gideon. “On this Earth Kara grew up as Kara Zorel of Earth and met and married Lena Luthor, also of Earth.”

That in and of itself had her heart beating fast for two reasons. Kara grew up on Earth in this universe and she had yet again chosen to marry Lena. And then it just got even more spectacular and a little weird.

“Out of all the Earths we know of, there are only three in which Kara and Lena, who have a multitude of last names across the universe, do not end up together.”

Lena thought she had misheard. “What?”

“On Earth-1, Krypton was never destroyed and so Kara grew up there and never had the chance to meet you. Oliver Queen on Earth –“

“We don’t talk about that one,” Sara cut her off. They all knew what that Earth was.

“And there is one Earth where Kara came to Earth, but you never left Ireland.” Her mind flashed with what ifs but with it came the pain of a past she could hardly remember. It wasn’t worth wishing for something she couldn’t have. It gave her some comfort that somewhere in the universe a little girl had never lost her mother.

“On every other Earth in my database so far, they are joined.”

“That’s some soulmate bullshit,” Zari commented.

“Gideon, are you sure?”

“About which part?”

“A-all of it,” Lena stuttered out.

“One hundred percent.”

And so, Sara had offered to go with her. Gideon had made them an appointment and now they were in the lobby and Lena couldn’t breathe. It was almost too much to imagine that growing up the sad child that she had had culminated in her finding the love of her life and creating the greatest family she’d ever known. So, the additional information that other versions of herself had still found Kara was unfathomable.

Sara took the reins. “We have an appointment.”

“With who?” The man at the desk asked, not looking up from his computer.

“Dr. Luthor.”

“Which one -?” When he looked up the words got caught in his throat. A look of surprise, then familiarity, then confusion followed each other in quick succession as he took Lena in. “Uh, I am guessing Dr. Kara Luthor?”

“Yes.” Sara gave a strained smile.

“O-o-okay.” He shook his head as if trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. “Name?”

“Sara Lance.”

He looked between the two. Lena was barely paying attention. Her mind was running through all the possible scenarios and trying to figure out what she was going to say to the woman she loved but didn’t know. And on top of that, she worried about running into her family.

“You are right on time. Elevator on the left down that hallway” – he pointed – “The twelfth floor.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course, Dr. Luthor…” he trailed off, his eyes on them as they walked away. 

“Lena, are you going to be able to do this?”

The question broke her panic. Her head twisted fast to look at Sara. Her jaw set with determination. “I’m a professional.”

Sara snorted.

“What?”

“I’ll make fun of you later. This is important.”

“I know,” Lena responded. She straightened her blouse and flattened her skirt. She had to compose herself. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, securing her posture and getting ready to put on the business face that she had been so well trained to wear. She couldn’t watch the numbers rise.

“Lena,” Sara said, more sincere this time, “whatever happens, you’ll be okay.”

Lena didn’t know what to say. Thinking back, she had always been okay; she had always come out on the other side. The knowledge should have helped but all it did was remind her that statistically, this could be the time.

Sara added, “I would know.”

There was an explanation in there that Lena was missing but this wasn’t the time. They had all been through so much, the horror stories, the loss of loved ones; it calmed her in a macabre way. Confronting her family wasn’t as nearly as horrifying as what some of their friends had lived through. She huffed. It wasn’t even as bad as some of the things she had lived through, but her family always had the power to paralyze her.

The doors dinged open sooner than she would have expected. They opened into a wide-open lobby space, with huge wide windows that filled the space with sunlight. There was a desk halfway down and as the doors opened, a man looked over and stood up, hurriedly walking toward her. “Dr. Luthor, I didn’t know you were – wait…”

The same look the receptionist in the entrance lobby had appeared across this man’s face as well. “I’m sorry, I –“

“It’s okay. I was sent up from downstairs.”

“Oh, yes, of course! Right this way.” He threw her an appraising look over his shoulder as he strode down the hallway. He pressed a keycard to a pad by doors which slid open and allowed them access.

She turned to Sara. “Maybe you should wait here.”

“You sure?”

Lena shook her head no but walked through the doors, anyway, leaving Sara standing in the lobby.

They were standing in the doorway to a state-of-the-art lab. It was huge, and much different from the hallway outside. This room lacked windows and hard fluorescents glared down onto every surface. Phillip stepped forward. “Dr. Luthor?”

The woman turned to look at her.

Her heart jumped in her chest. She was looking at a woman in a lab coat wearing a high ponytail. She stepped forward into the room, trying to steady her racing heart. What the picture didn’t do justice to was her age. This Kara had to be in her late forties, possibly fifties. Her hair wasn’t as lustrous and there were wrinkles appearing on smooth skin. It was an image Lena would never have been able to see on her own Earth. She was still, without a doubt, astonishingly beautiful.

Seeing her lessened the anxiety Lena was feeling. Because despite her being Kara, she wasn’t Lena’s Kara in any way. Lena could already sense there was a difference. She didn’t stand the same way, she didn’t smile the same way, she didn’t hold herself with a sense of confidence that verged on regal like Kara did.

But it wasn’t any less intimidating. She still had an air of friendly confidence like no one Lena had ever met. It came without the tinge of sadness. On full blast, it was extremely intoxicating. Lena felt lightheaded just looking at her.

“Dr. Luthor?” Lena said with hesitation.

The woman faltered upon seeing her.

“Um,” Kara cocked her head to the side, “you’re not my wife.”

Lena swallowed. “No” - the word sounded wrong, but she continued - “I have an appointment.”

“My wife doesn’t usually make appointments with me.”

“Well, like you said –“

“You’re not my wife.”

“Correct.”

“But yet…”

“Here I am.”

There was silence in the lab aside from the quiet whirring of machines. They stared at each other. Lena wondered if Kara was cataloguing all of the things that were different as she herself was doing.

“You’re a scientist.” There was a smile in Lena’s voice.

“I’m a physicist to be more specific. And so, I have questions. First of all, how are you possible?”

“The multiverse.”

Kara shook her head. “Doesn’t exist.”

“It does. That’s how I’m possible.”

“Well, that’s impossible.”

“We all thought that about Superman until he showed up.”

Kara cocked her head to the side. “The comic book?”

“Um,” Lena was confused, “Yes and no I suppose. Your comic book but also the real-life man.”

Kara’s eyebrows scrunched and her focus shifted to something far off in the distance.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t have Superman on this Earth?”

There was a hesitant chuckle. “No. Those are stories.”

“So your cous –“ Lena stopped herself short. She didn’t know what type of repercussions could come from telling this woman who she was on another Earth. It wasn’t just a different path in life, it was an entirely altered origin story. Knowing that on one Earth she had grown up with the Luthors and decided to be a lawyer instead of a businesswoman wasn’t detrimental to her mental state. Lena couldn’t imagine how she would react to finding out that every other iteration of herself was an alien from another planet. It would make her feel like an outsider, some sort of glitch in the system of the universe. So, she held her tongue and rephrased the question. “So, who is here?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Flash, White Canary, what superhero is on this Earth?”

“There are more than one on your Earth?”

“Sorta and a bunch on other Earths.”

“Hmmm,” Kara shrugged, “I feel a little snubbed. I mean I still don’t know if I should believe you or call security but then I’d have to explain why I’m having my own wife arrested, I suppose, and I wouldn’t know how to do that without also setting off alarm bells. But, if you are telling the truth, the superheroes overlooked this Earth. We don’t have any.”

“So, who deals with the crises?”

She frowned. “The police. The government. Those are institutions on your Earth, yes?”

“Yes,” Lena admitted, “The threats we get are more alien invasions and powerful megalomaniacs that can’t be controlled by normal means.”

This seemed to shock Kara. “Then maybe I’m happy we don’t have superheroes.”

Lena nodded without speaking. Kara was looking at her expectantly. “Sooooo, why are you here?”

This pulled Lena out of her thoughts. “You are going to have to believe me and take me at my word since all of this is going to be new information. But it’s important and vital to the survival of this Earth.”

Kara became instantly composed. A look of determined focus on her face. “So, even without the superheroes we ended up in the crossfires.”

“There are individuals who explore the multiverse more than they should and it sends waves of positive and negative affects through the universes. This time unfortunately it’s a friend doing the harming. He’s stuck in the speed force and we can’t find him. Whatever is happening is sending waves of dark matter energy in this direction.”

“Speed force?”

“To be completely honest, I still don’t really understand the physics of it. It speaks to him or something and only speedsters can activate it. It’s a lot more concern than it’s worth in my opinion but it also doesn’t exist on my Earth so I’m not in charge of it.”

“You’re just in charge of fixing the problem.”

Lena smirked. “Well, I am a genius.”

“You’ve got her confidence,” Kara said as Lena pulled out the device and set it on the surface of metal table. The comment caught her off guard and she side-eyed Kara before ignoring it and moving on.

“So, I created this device that should absorb the energy and send it back into the speed force where it belongs.”

“Should?”

“Apparently science differs Earth to Earth. The science from my Earth isn’t compatible here and I needed someone with expertise to make the conversion.”

Kara let out a deep sigh. “This is going to be a lot of guess work since what you’re talking about hasn’t been fathomed by anyone I know of. Should I call my wife?”

Lena flinched. “I don’t think I want that.”

“Okay.” Kara said, not asking any further questions and honoring her request.

They started work. Lena explained the inner workings of the device and what each part was supposed to do. A lot of it had to be done in metaphors and comparisons but Kara seemed to eventually grasp the bigger picture. It seemed with in depth explanations they were able to translate most of the language Lena was using into something known to Kara. The rest was done in companionable silence.

Lena lost track of the time. Kara was bent low over the device as she watched. Her part in everything seemed to be over, she was just here to help if asked. Sara kept asking where she was every few minutes, but she didn’t feel comfortable responding.

“So, what happens if this doesn’t work?”

Lena frowned. “It’ll work.”

“But what if it doesn’t?”

“It will,” Lena assured her, confident in her work, “But I don’t know. I’ve never dealt with dark matter on this scale.”

“Worst case scenario.”

“It’s going to work.”

“Worst case scenario.”

“Complete obliteration,” Lena stated bluntly.

Kara’s hands paused for a moment but that was the only reaction she gave.

A few more moments in silence passed as Kara tinkered with the machine.

“Are we married on your Earth?”

Lena snorted. “It’s definitely not you I’m married to but, in short, yes.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Kara asked, humor in her voice.

“You’re not her.”

“You’re not her either,” Kara agreed. “Isn’t that weird?”

“I didn’t think it would be as obvious. But the little things add up.”

“Can you explain?”

There were so many things about her Kara that were solely because she was Kryptonian and she still wasn’t sure how that information would be received. But she wanted to know everything about this Earth too. The fact that they didn’t have any superheroes was a fact that Lena couldn’t even imagine being a truth about her life. Her entire existence and why she ended up where she was, was entirely because of their existence. So, she agreed, with one condition. “Only if you do.”

Kara smiled. “Okay, but you first.”

“Your posture and gait are way different than hers. She holds herself always upright and strong. And, unless she’s somehow tripping over her own feet” – Lena chuckled – “you couldn’t miss her in the street. She radiates confidence. But it’s a different type of confidence than you have.

“You both have smiles that light up a room but hers spreads across her entire face and crinkles her nose while yours is a lot of teeth.”

“Just so you know, my wife loves my toothy smile.”

“I’m sure she does.”

“Continue,” Kara egged her on.

“Um, you have different cadences to your voice. I don’t know anything else about you so I can only base this off of what I’ve seen so far.”

“Understood.”

“Um, she has a forehead crinkle that appears whenever she’s thinking that you don’t have.”

“No, I just have wrinkles on my forehead.”

“That’s another thing,” Lena paused. She was right on the line. “She always looks twenty-six.”

“Lucky.” She didn’t get it.

“So, seeing you was eye opening.”

“Ouch.”

“No, um, I mean, I’ll never see her age.”

This pulled Kara’s focus. The question was in her expression.

“She’s one of those superheroes I was talking about.”

“Oh.” Kara didn’t say anything else.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Then there’s a lot more that’s different than you let on.”

“There is.”

There was more silence. It seemed to have been agreed upon during that silence that it was best to leave that subject alone.

“I guess it’s my turn.”

“I’d love to hear.”

Kara worked as she spoke. Lena thought she had to be almost finished. “You have a lot more painful baggage than she does. It comes out in your voice even when you’re trying to hide it. She does that too, but I can always hear it.”

This wasn’t a surprise to Lena. She had an inkling that the Luthor family on this Earth weren’t as crazy and maniacal. How could they be if Superman didn’t exist?”

“She has this completely unrestrained laugh that’s contagious and a smile that she’s not afraid of. She has a couple gray hairs, but I suppose that’s not so much a difference between you as people but because of the age difference.”

“You are both Dr. Luthor?”

“Yeah,” Kara’s eyes widened, “that isn’t easy for most people. But I’m the physicist and she’s the biologist, so different fields.”

And then she cocked her head. “That outfit doesn’t look like what we usually wear to work. So, is it safe to assume –“

“I’m not a scientist? No, not safe to assume. I am indeed a scientist, but I am also a CEO, so a lot of the science has been delegated to other people. I don’t get to be hands on as much as I would like to be.”

“Impressive. What company?”

“Uh, actually, the same in a way.”

“Luthor Corp?”

“Well, it was Luthor Corp. I took charge and renamed it L-Corp. For reasons that I think are best not discussed between us.”

“It’s _your_ superhero origin story then?”

Lena laughed. “Something like that.”

“What does your wife do? Are we kindred spirits in science as well?”

“Well, you could be. But it wasn’t the path she chose. She’s the editor for the magazine side of a huge media conglomerate.” Lena watched as Kara kept screwing in the same piece. “Do you need help?”

She straightened up and set the tool to the side. “No, I’ve been done for five minutes, I just wanted to know more.”

“It’s going to work.”

“I believe it more now.”

“What?”

“The whole thing.”

“Really?”

“I might pretend it was a dream for my own sanity because I’m not sure anyone else will believe me. But, yes. And I think you’re right. It’s going to work. Not that I didn’t trust you, but I have more confidence now that I’ve had my hands on it.”

“No offense taken. I’m the same way.” Lena’s eyes lingered on this Kara before she broke away. “I should go. My friend has been waiting outside and she’s not happy with me for ignoring her calls.”

“You could’ve invited her in with you.”

“She’s very abrasive. Also, she would definitely have flirted with you and made a big deal about how my wife would look if she aged.”

She looked humored but also intrigued. “Then maybe that was the for the best.”

“The wave is supposed to hit tomorrow morning. Be ready. It’ll work but just be ready.” Lena turned to leave.

“Lena.” Hearing her name from this woman was jarring. They had avoided calling each other by name the entire time. That became clearer when the precedent was broken. She turned to see a sad smile on her face; she looked more Kara in this one moment than she had the entire time. “I’m sorry for the pain you’ve had to endure. But you seem like the strongest person I’ve ever met. And I know I haven’t known you but two hours but there’s something about being in our situation that makes me feel like we’re a little bit closer than that. So, it makes me happy to know that you’ve found your match.”

“Can I tell you something that might be crossing the line we’ve silently set for ourselves?”

“Oh, so you noticed it too?”

“There are hundreds, if not more, Earths within the multiverse. We have a group of people that we’ve found and connected with across multiple Earths. We’re the pioneers of the multiverse in a way, probably because no one else really knows about it. But even we don’t have the full scope. And I just learned today that out of all the Earths we know of, the Kara and Lena of those Earths have all found each other. And the two times we didn’t is when we never got the chance to because we were living another type of happiness. That weighed heavily on me when I first heard it. It felt like some type of burden I had to bear. So, I don’t know what that means for the multiverse but now, after meeting you, it makes it seem lighter. And now, all I know, is that what we both have is a very powerful thing.”

Leaving this new Earth wasn’t heart wrenching. She didn’t have any real emotion connected to it which Zari apparently found confounding. “You just met a different version of your wife and you don’t feel anything.”

“She’s not _my_ wife.” They had had this same exchange thirty times, which was a feat since it only took about five minutes to return Lena home. And they didn’t go to her office or to the time right before she left. They went to the appropriate time and they dropped her off in the suburbs.

Kara jumped off the couch as soon as the blue portal appeared. Lena walked through first, Sara and Zari following. “You had me worried to death.”

“Did Gideon’s message get to you?” Sara asked, plopping down in the nearest chair.

“Yes.”

“Then you knew she was fine.”

Kara was obviously flustered and stumbled over her words until she finally said something coherent. “I don’t like my wife on another Earth without me.”

“Too bad so sad.

Kara glared at Sara

“We needed her help.”

“With?”

Sara’s eyes widened and her cheeks grew large with a puff of air. She let it out and stood up. “You know what? Zari, let’s go. I’m gonna let Lena explain that.”

They disappeared through the portal, leaving Lena on her own. She cut Kara’s next question off with a tight hug. Kara returned it without words, squeezing her. She was warm. She was stable.

A lot of questions had arisen for Lena because of what she had seen and witnessed. Good and bad. And they were already nagging at her, wanting answers she knew she didn’t have and might never obtain. And all she wanted to do now was stay in the arms of the woman she loved and not move for as long as possible.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?”

“I love you.”

Kara leaned back slightly and smiled. “I love you too.”

“I love you across the multiverse.”

Kara looked rightly confused. “Um, me too?”

“Is that a question?”

“Of course, I love you across the multiverse,” she hesitated before continuing, “but, uh, that’s a mouthful. There something I’m not aware of?”

Lena didn’t answer but nuzzled her cheek into Kara’s chest.

“Okay,” Kara chuckled.

“But, I love you.”

“Forever.”

And the next morning as the wave of dark matter grew nearer to the other Earth and the red light on the device started blinking rapidly, Kara pulled Lena close to her side. “It’s going to work.”

“I have no doubt.”

She pushed the button and a wave of energy shot out from it, pulling in an invisible force. They both stumbled back and then were surrounded by a dense silence.

“Did it work?”

Kara smiled her toothy smile. “We’re still alive, aren’t we?”


	18. Chapter 18

_“Yes,” Lena said, kissing her, “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”_

_Kara wrapped her arms around Lena’s waist and picked her up, spinning them in circles. When she set Lena back on the ground, she kissed her hand. Kara pulled back, retrieving a slightly larger than ring-sized box._

_“Kara?” Lena questioned the move._

_“Um,” Kara stated, already nervous. “I know a ring is customary. But, on Krypton” – Kara opened the box, exposing a plain, silver bracelet – “Usually they’d be a specific color just for us but I couldn’t really do that here. But, on Krypton, we exchange bracelets instead of rings and I got this because I thought maybe…”_

_Lena grabbed her face and kissed her, cutting her off. “Of course, I will. Your traditions are just as important.”_

_Kara beamed as Lena put the bracelet on. It glinted under the lights. Lena was staring at it, looking like she had something on her mind. “What are you thinking?”_

_Lena looked up at her. “You know, you’ve proposed to me before.”_

_Kara paled. “What? No – I did not – what are – this is definitely the only time I’ve proposed. I think I’d remember getting rejected by the love of my life.”_

_Lena had an annoying trait: she rarely blushed. But, her softened features became shy and Kara got the gist. “Remember that first time you took me to the alien bar?”_

_“Barely,” Kara said off the cuff._

_“Well…”_

_Kara’s eyes widened. “No.”_

_“You were really drunk, and I had taken you into the bathroom and you said, ‘We should get married.’ You instantly forgot but I swore I would tell you at some point and this seems like the last possible time for me to be able to keep that promise.”_

_Kara didn’t know what to say._

_“If it helps, I found it endearing.”_

_“That was only like… a couple months in…”_

_Lena grimaced. “Yeah.”_

_“And you said no?”_

_“I think I said, ‘We should definitely not do that.’”_

_Kara took a moment to think. “Rude. Well, I bet you’re laughing at yourself now, huh?”_

“Momma!”

Neither of them heard it at first. The water was streaming down Kara’s back. Lena’s head was thrown back against the shower wall.

“Momma!”

Kara had Lena pushed up against the wall. Lena had one leg over Kara’s shoulder.

“Jeju!”

Lena’s eyes blinked open. “Did you…?”

“Mmmmm?”

“Jeju!”

Kara’s hand grabbed onto Lena’s leg as she sat back, spluttering as the water streamed over her head. “Yep.”

“Shit,” Lena said, pulling her leg back.

Kara stood up and pressed into Lena, leaving a lingering kiss. Lena watched the water drip off her eyelashes as she leaned back. “Who’s turn?”

“MOOOOMMMMMAAAAAA!”

“Oh,” Lena pushed her away playfully, “this might be a joint effort.”

Kara switched off the water as Lena yelled, “Coming, baby!”

Lena wrapped herself in a towel as Kara pulled dry clothes over very wet skin. It wasn’t easy; she tripped a few times much to Lena’s amusement. The clothes darkened wherever it touched her body, the water saturating the fabric. Her blonde hair looked almost brown wet and was a tangled mess, dripping down the back of her shirt.

“Remind me never to wake up at 5am to have sex with you again.”

“When else would you like to do it?”

“All I’m saying is our kids have a sixth sense for when we need them to sleep.”

“Well, at least one of them has super-hearing.”

Lena threw her a towel as she opened the door, but Kara ignored it and followed her.

“Mommmmmaaaaa!” Ethan bellowed again. He had been very quiet at first, not speaking until long after they had anticipated. They were relieved when he finally did but he was a still very quiet little boy. When he chose not to be quiet though, he was deafeningly loud.

“Coming, nugget!” Kara called.

Lori was standing outside his door, rubbing her eyes. “He woke me up.”

Kara mussed her hair. “Go back to bed, is’kal. You have an hour.”

That sentence in and of itself woke her up and she smiled mischievously. “Too late!”

Ethan was standing up on his bed, holding onto the railing. His face was flushed and wet but as soon as he saw Lena, he stopped crying and a huge smile appeared on his face. He giggled.

Lori pushed past Lena and started bouncing in front of the bed. Ethan followed suit. He was always enraptured with his older sister, watching everything she did.

Lori turned to Kara. “Can we fly today?”

Lena saw the discomfort on Kara’s face; the way her body closed itself off. It was the most unlike Kara thing she’d ever seen. It hurt; her heart ached. But, like usual, Kara smiled through it. “Not today. Jeju’s still grounded.”

Lori didn’t seem to care either way, but Kara did. The hopeful look on her face almost crushed Lena. It was her fault in the first place. No one else would have suggested Kara give up her powers. And Kara wouldn’t have accepted it from anyone else. So, she was the only one to blame for the look on her wife’s face.

“Also, Ethan can’t fly,” Lena spoke up, trying to take some of the burden from Kara. Kara smiled at her in thanks.

“Ta?” Lori asked, looking up at her.

“We don’t know.

Lori’s mouth dropped open in horror. “What if he can’t fly?”

“Then he can’t,” Kara offered.

Lori scrunched up her face. “Zha.”

“Yes, is’kal.

“But if you can fly and I can fly then he can fly.”

“Can momma fly?”

“No, but that’s because she’s momma.”

Lena almost laughed. Lori grew up Kryptonian, yes, but also human. Her entire view of the world was warped in what Lena thought was the best way it could be. She was so sure of who she was that it only made sense that Ethan was the exact same way.

“What if he’s like momma?”

Lori looked to Lena and considered. She shrugged. “I guess that’s okay.”

Lena picked up Ethan who was reaching out his arms to her.

“You guess?” Kara said, squatting down so she was on the same level as Lori.

“Yeah,” Lori nodded adamantly.

“Well,” Kara looked at Lena, “what do you guess we’ll have for breakfast?”

Lena rolled her eyes, hiking Ethan farther up on her hip.

“Waffles!” Lori exclaimed, jumping up and down yet again.

All Lena could do was smile at Kara. Was she worried about the sugar intake of her kids? Yes. Did that stop her from putting an end to anything Kara thought of? No. Was that because Kara was very cute when trying to get her way? Most definitely.

“I love you,” Kara mouthed as Lori jumped into her arms, trying to be picked up even though she was beginning to become too big; especially now, since Kara didn’t have her strength.

“I love you too,” Lena mouthed back as Ethan grabbed at her hair. He pulled a little too hard and she grimaced. Kara tried to pry his little fingers from it without success. Instead, she picked up a stuffed toy fish and handed it to him. It immediately got his attention and he stuck it in his mouth.

Kara kissed her. “Happy Anniversary.”

For six years, their anniversary had been an afterthought. From the moment Lori was born, she had taken up every single moment of their time. Most years, they both forgot and laughed about it later. Or one of them forgot and the other was nice enough to not bring it up. A week later, they’d reconvene for a small celebration that usually involved a half a glass of champagne in either Lena’s office or their bedroom, right before bed, and they never mentioned it again. And once Ethan came, any thought of ever having an anniversary celebration flew out the window.

Before Lori, they had both remembered one year and went out for a nice dinner, only the two of them. Another year, Alex had splurged and made all of their friends dress up and celebrate. But, other than that, their anniversary had always been low-key. It wasn’t something either of them thought about, or most years, even recalled. There was usually so much other craziness going on that they didn’t feel like they could take the time for themselves. Usually they were right.

This year was a little different. Without any of the impending surprises that came with Supergirl, they both felt a little bit more freedom. So, when Lena had come across the cabin in northern California, it seemed evident that they should do something, even if it was only going to be for two days, one weekend.

“Krypto, drop!” The dog looked at her and spat out Ethan’s hand. “Ethan, don’t put your hand in the dog’s mouth.”

Ethan laughed and patted Krypto’s nose.

“Krypto likes it,” Lori explained.

“Lorelai, did you teach your brother to put his hand in Krypto’s mouth?”

“I don’t know what he learns.”

Kara sighed. “Well, don’t. Neither of you should be putting any part of your body in the dog’s mouth.”

“Or the cat’s,” she added as Streaky jumped up on the counter. She picked her up and set her back on the floor. She got an indignant look and a sassy flick of a tail in response as Streaky went to curl up next to Krypto.”  
  


“Jacket, jacket, jacket.”

“Get your jacket, Lori.”

“I don’t get cold, Momma.”

“That’s not true.”

Lori pouted but stomped up the stairs to her room and returned with a purple windbreaker.

Kara was trying to fasten a kicking Ethan into the car seat. She huffed. “Why are you so fussy this morning?”

He let out a wail in response and Lori grimaced and covered her ears as she climbed into the backseat next to him. She was clenching and unclenching her fists rapidly. Kara glanced up. “Do your ears hurt again?”

Lori’s sense sensitivity had gradually eased as she grew. She was no longer overwhelmed so often; they had started doing regular exercises to help her control them. But, sometimes things snuck through. And Ethan’s squealing was grating to a normal ear, let alone Lori’s.

Lori shook her head and let out a deep breath that should have been reserved for adults. She said through gritted teeth. “No.”

Lena climbed into the front seat and slammed the door. “I think it’s me.”

Lori nodded.

Whatever connection existed between Lori and Lena was slowly dissipating with age. They still hadn’t figured out what it was, how it was even possible, and what it meant. But, it didn’t seem to be harmful overall, so Kara mostly dismissed it as just another quirk within their family. Lena was less than happy about it but she had also grown to accept it as it was. They had no idea if Ethan had the same connection. He had never said anything that would make them question, but he wasn’t much of a talker compared to Lori. They wouldn’t be able to know unless he said something outright.

Lena turned around in the front seat. “Want to do deep breaths with me?”

Lori shook her head as Kara buckled her in. “Sorry, is’kal.”

Kara climbed into the passenger seat and took Lena’s hand. “Are you okay?”

“Tense and stressed this morning.”

Kara leaned over the console and kissed her on the temple. “I’m sure I would’ve relieved some of that earlier if we hadn’t been interrupted.”

Lena rolled her eyes but backed out of the driveway with a smile on her face.

Kara reminded Lena at least five times that morning that she was coming to L-Corp that afternoon. “No, not at nine pm, Lena, at five pm like normal people.”

The indignant look she received in return was warranted. She may not have made the effort only for Kara, but because of their kids, Lena made a huge effort to change her relationship with her work. For the most part, she was home no later than six o’clock every day.

But, as the hour was nearing, Lena felt the urge to cancel. All the day had done was cause the already inordinate amount of tension in her body to grow to an almost unbearable limit. Her neck hurt and her shoulders were locked. The frustration that the report in front of her was enough to make her want to explode. She had already exploded one time that day. Andrew had come in to inform her of a meeting and she had snapped. He was owed an apology, but she thought it best to wait until the next day so she, hopefully, wouldn’t be as aggressive. Her fingers were itching to grab her phone and text Kara sorry, but they would have to celebrate another weekend. The only thing that stopped her was the look she imagined on Kara’s face: one of complete understanding, trying to hide disappointment and not doing a very good job of it. She was already living a completely different life than she was used to, and it was quite obvious it wasn’t one she totally enjoyed, though Lena would never hear those words out of her mouth. Kara was completely devoted to her and their kids and she knew that brought her happiness. On the other hand, there was also the look of longing on her face that morning when Lori had mentioned flying. Lena couldn’t quite get it out of her mind. She missed it with all of her heart, that was obvious. The least Lena could do was show up to spend their anniversary together.

Sam arrived in her office at three in the afternoon and Lena almost cried in relief. Sam’s smiling friendly face was more than welcome.

“Well,” Sam commented, “you look like you need a break.”

Lena stood up and walked around her desk, pulling the woman into a hug. “Are you sure you’re okay with doing this?”

“I think I can handle it.”

“You don’t even have to come into the office. I just need to you to be available in case anything comes up.”

As far as reliable people in Lena’s life, Sam had risen on the ranks to number two, right after Kara. There was still so much she was keeping from this woman she called a friend but she only imagined it was even harder for Alex who had found kinship with Sam in a way that surprised everyone. As her standing at L-Corp went, Lena couldn’t imagine having any other person in position of CFO; Sam was a godsend and Lena’s trust in her was absolute.

Lena typed quickly into her computer. “I’ve just sent the files you may need over to you since I may not be reachable this weekend.”

Sam nodded. “And I am up to date on everything. You don’t need to worry about me. I know what I’m doing.”

“I know.”

“Have you ever taken a step back?”

Lena looked up at her. “I built this company from the ground up.”

“So no.”

“Never.”

Sam shook her head in disbelief. “And I’m sure you never will.”

“The time will come,” Lena responded, settling back into her chair. She thought of it as a time far off in the future but other than that, she hadn’t put much thought into the future of the company in her absence. It didn’t seem to exist outside of her, though her board would greatly disagree. It wouldn’t be uncalled for her to start making plans because the idea of it falling into the hands of any of those people made her shiver. They were necessary but never on the same page; they didn’t understand the company as they should. She had brought it out of ruin once; she would not see it returned to devastation.

“Well go. Relax. Have fun. You deserve it and I’m sure Kara will be more than overjoyed to have you to herself for a weekend.” Sam smiled. “And I will see you on Monday.”

Much to Andrew’s surprise, Lena left and locked her office at 5pm on the dot.

The smile didn’t trick her but the look in Lena’s eyes said, “Later,” before she turned around to the back seat to say hello to Lorelai and tickle Ethan’s leg. The little boy giggled and squirmed in the car seat. Lori on the other hand looked like she was ready to fall asleep. Lori was always tired when the end of the week came around and the way she was sprinting across the parking lot in a game of tag when Kara arrived to pick her up from the school’s extended care program meant she had tired herself even more.

Usually a car trip would be filled with Lori’s constant talking or the repetitiveness of one of the many children’s CDs that Kara often found sliding out from under the front seat. But, fifteen minutes in and Lori had passed out, her head hanging back and her mouth slightly open, a trickle of drool already starting to fall from the corner of her mouth. Ethan was staring up and out the window to his left. The quiet was disconcerting after the troublesome car ride of the morning.

Kara had one hand on the wheel and the other was entwined with Lena’s, resting against her leg.

Eliza was waiting outside for them; her mother’s ability to sense their arrival was uncanny. Lori and Ethan both ran to their grandma, smothering he in hugs. Kara hugged her mother and Lena kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Eliza, for taking them.”

She had her hand on Ethan’s head. “I love getting a weekend with my grandkids.”

Kara pulled their things out of the backseat and carried them inside. Lori’s nap in the car had revived her some and she was tearing through the house like a menace.

“Lorelai!” Lena was calling. “No powers with grandmas this weekend.”

Lori immediately came to a halt, a pout on her face. “Not even a little bit?”

All Lori needed to see was the look on Lena’s face to know that would not be tolerated. Kara could see Eliza behind Lena, reassuring Lori that maybe a little bit of powers would be okay. She smiled. They said their goodbyes, Kara nuzzling Ethan with her nose until he laughed. “Love you, nugget.”

“Is’kal?” she pointed at Lori.

“Be good.”

“I am, jeju!” Lori said huffily.

“I know, little one.”

Even without the kids, it was a quiet ride. Kara pulled onto the winding road that led up and into the woods. The car climbed and climbed until they could see a light through the trees. She turned into the drive and pulled up underneath the single light attached to the side of a cabin. Lena still didn’t say anything as Kara shut the car off.

“Just call.”

Lena blinked at her. She was deeper in thought than Kara realized. “I don’t leave L-Corp.”

“I know. So, call.”

“There’s probably not any service.”

Kara leaned over the console and pressed her lips against Lena’s temple. “Try.”

She wanted Lena to be able to relax, which she clearly had not been since Kara had picked her up outside of the office, but it also gave Kara a chance to get into the cabin first.

The door opened immediately into a two-story living room with a large stone fireplace and wide sliding glass doors that led out to a screened-in deck. Stairs to her left led up to a small alcove and another door which Kara assumed was the bedroom. She flipped open the suitcase on the coffee table to a plethora of candles. Kara could not call romance her strong suit. Before Lena, most of her romantic ventures had been full of uncertainty and awkwardness. With Lena, she had never had to try to do anything other than follow her instincts. But things lately had been far from perfect and she didn’t think the extra effort could hurt.

She lined the stairs with the candles, lighting as she went, the flickering flames dancing in her eyes. The bedroom was small, a king-sized bed taking up the majority of the space with a dresser stuck between it and the wall on one side and an end table on the other. An open door led into the bathroom but other than that, the room was quite bare. She lined the dresser with the rest of the candles, the mirror on top reflecting the light back at her.

Kara hurried back down the stairs and outside where she found Lena pouting and pulling the other bag out of the trunk. Kara’s forehead crinkled. “Did something happen?”

Lena closed the trunk. “Sam yelled at me.”

Kara laughed and scooped Lena into her arms, bringing their lips together. She felt Lena smile against her mouth. They were wrapped in darkness and the incessant chirping of crickets. She kissed Lena’s forehead. “Come on, let’s go.”

She grabbed Lena’s hand and led her to the front door, pushing it open and ushering her through. Lena’s entire body shuddered as they were assaulted with a plethora of scents that did not mix well. Lena glanced as the stairs. “Very romantic, Kara, though it does work better with unscented candles.”

Kara grimaced and crawled up the stairs, blowing out the candles on each step as she went. Romance _really_ was not her forte. Lena turned on the light in the living room which cast a warm glow, brightening the space. Kara looked over the bannister at the top of the stairs. “Are you coming?”

“Aren’t you going to carry me up?” Lena smiled.

Kara rushed down the stairs.

Lena laughed and squirmed as Kara grabbed her around the waist. “I was only joking. I don’t think you could do that.”

“Hey, maybe not bridal style but probably a fireman’s carry or,” Kara’s eyes brightened, “I could give you a piggyback ride.”

“I think I’ll walk.”

Kara groaned, her head planting on Lena’s shoulder. “Stupid red sun.”

They climbed hand in hand up the stairs, Kara leading Lena into the bedroom. Her fingers itched at the hem of Lena’s blouse and she untucked it from her skirt, fingers immediately finding warm skin. She bent her neck to kiss Lena’s cheek, then jaw, then neck as Lena’s fingers reached and unbuttoned her pants. She shimmied out of them, kicking them off her feet. She lifted Lena’s shirt up and over her head.

Kara backed Lena up into the bed, both of them falling onto it. There was a noticeable absence of laughter. Kara tried to ignore it, her lips trailing across Lena’s stomach and up her chest, to her lips. They were out of sync, not matching as they usually did so well. Kara pulled away, the look in Lena’s eyes telling her all she needed to know. “You’re not into this.”

Lena’s attempt at a smile fell short. “It’s been a long day. I’m just tired.”

“Then let’s sleep.” Kara kissed her nose.

Lena didn’t ask if she was sure; she took Kara at her word. Lena rolled out of bed, disappeared out the door and came back with their suitcase. She was changed, teeth brushed and halfway asleep before Kara had even made a move to get up. She leaned over to Lena, kissed her gently on the cheek, trying not to wake her and whispered, “Happy Anniversary.”

At three in the morning Kara was still awake, staring at the ceiling, the still lighted candles casting strange shadows across the walls. Lena lay next to her, her chest rising and falling slowly in her sleep. There was a lot Kara didn’t want to be thinking about. The implication that came with the sense of relief that had washed over her when Lena had wanted to sleep instead of have sex was on the top of that list. The suggestion of going away together for a weekend came with the assumption that sex would be involved, especially when they were usually too busy or too crowded. And the idea hadn’t made Kara second guess herself. She had had every intention of that being the case. But it was as if the initiating of the actual act made her unsure. The previous morning attempt at shower sex hadn’t fazed her. There was no consistency except for knowing that the idea of Lena touching her made her entire body revolt against her.

There was no way to explain that to her wife. She couldn’t even imagine how to start that conversation with Lena. Because it had nothing to do with Lena. She was still unbelievably attracted in every way to the woman who lay next to her. She wanted nothing more than to be with Lena like they once had, but it hadn’t been the same for a while. Easily traced. The moment she gave up her powers, she lost some connection with herself. And that was really the last thing Kara wanted to think about.

She threw herself out of bed faster than she meant to and she turned back to make sure she hadn’t woken Lena. She stirred slightly but remained asleep. Kara padded out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her and made her way down the stairs. The light was still on in the living room and the keys were on the arms of the couch. She picked them up, trudging out of the cabin and into the early morning hours in the woods. There was a larger sense of impending silence at this hour and her feet crackling on the wood chips and leaves sounded like small explosions in the dark.

Kara pressed the button on the keys and the lights flickered on with a couple chimes. She opened the trunk again, pulling out the cooler that they hadn’t brought in earlier. The bottom scraped across the uneven ground. It wasn’t too heavy, so she lifted it, carrying it inside instead. She hadn’t noticed it before, but coming back into the cabin, and behind the lingering aroma of many scented candles, was the welcoming fragrance of wood. She breathed in deeply, also realizing that the air inside was a little sticky. She pushed open the sliding doors, letting not only the light breeze in, but the night sounds that took away the discomfort of complete silence. It gave her something else to focus on than the swirling thoughts in her head.

She unloaded the cooler. It took much less time than she hoped. It wasn’t yet four. Not that the time really meant anything; she wasn’t getting any sleep.

They rented a boat to spend the afternoon on the lake. Kara, not having any clue on how to drive said boat stayed in the rear. She was sitting on the back bench, arms spread across the sides of the boat. Her bareback dug into the metal rim. Her shorts weren’t long enough to cover her thighs, so her skin was sticking to the vinyl seat. Her sunglasses sat on her nose, protecting her eyes from the wind that was whipping by as they drove on. Lena, the only one of the two who had any idea how to drive a boat was at the wheel. She was standing, one knee on the driver’s seat. Her wrap skirt was fluttering in the wind. She had foregone a hat; two minutes in it would have blown behind them, never to be found again.

The sky wasn’t clear, but it was sunny and warm enough. Lena had plugged her phone into the boat’s auxiliary port, but no music could be heard over the roar of the engine and the splash of the wake. Kara wasn’t paying much attention to where they were headed until the boat stopped. They floated in the water; the silence drastic after the noise of the engine.

Lena turned and sauntered the few steps to the back end of the boat, a look on her face that Kara knew well. Lena crouched down in front of her and Kara leaned forward, her fingers sifting through hair as she brought Lena closer to kiss her. Lena’s hands landed on Kara’s thighs and slid up until they grabbed her hips. She let herself be pulled forward ever so slightly.

And then Lena shifted, and the button of Kara’s shorts was being undone and a hand was sliding down. A cold sweat erupted on the back of Kara’s neck. She grabbed Lena’s hand and pulled back from the kiss. “Lena, this is very public.”

They both looked around. Kara’s face reddened at the fact that there were no other boats around them on the lake. Lena didn’t say anything, but she removed her hand and re-buttoned Kara’s shorts. She looked at Kara from her crouched position. Kara would have known what to do with anger or sadness or confusion but the lack of expression on Lena’s face gave her nothing to work with. Then Lena leaned in, kissing Kara’s cheek and whispering in her ear. “You don’t have to make excuses, Kara. Just say no.”

She restarted the engine. As Kara warred with embarrassment and discomfort, they made it back to the dock. It was just in time too as they anchored the boat, clouds rolled in and opened above them. Thought it was a cold, hard rain, it broke the tension Kara was feeling. She grabbed Lena’s hand as they jumped from the boat and ran to where their car was parked. Laughter returned and they were giggling as they both climbed in, drenched to the bone. Just one look at each other sent them into other fit of laughter and they had to wait until Kara could catch her breath before driving back to the cabin.

The couple minute drive wasn’t long enough for the rain to abate and they found themselves again, running into the cabin, wood chips sticking to their sandals and wet feet. They burst through the door shuddering as a blast of cold air from the AC hit them. Lena immediately turned it off and climbed the stairs as Kara bent down by the fireplace and worked out how to light it. A towel pummeled her in the side of the head, and she looked up to see Lena grinning, head bent to one side as she vigorously dried her hair.

Kara grabbed the towel and wiped off her dripping face and arms, finding the lighter. The fire was low but with a little coaxing would be roaring and, hopefully, heating the living room. The flickering light from the flames already made it feel cozier.

She opened the sliding door to the porch, letting in the sound of the storm. The water pattering against the leaves, hitting the forest floor. The distant and low rumbling of thunder. The few chirps of brave birds. She stood in the doorway, just listening, ignoring the water running down her legs and the chill that sent her into another shiver.

She heard the creak of the wood floor and then Lena’s body pressed up behind her, softly kissing her shoulder. “You didn’t bring a sweatshirt. Here.”

A soft fabric pressed into her stomach and Kara looked down to find Lena’s maroon MIT sweatshirt. She pulled it over her head, her wet hair dampening the sweatshirt.

“You made a puddle.”

A small pool of water had gathered on the floor where Kara was standing. She finished drying off, wiping the floor dry as well.

She hadn’t been expecting the rain. She hadn’t been expecting for them to be forced indoors. But something about it seemed right. Fire and wine and quiet weren’t the goals but it felt needed. Kara popped the cork on a bottle of red that they had brought, pouring a glass and taking it to Lena who had situated herself on the couch, a plaid blanket across her legs. Kara sat on the floor opposite the coffee table, searching through the games that were stacked underneath. She pulled out Scrabble and Lena grinned. “Oh, definitely.”

They spent hours at it; a genius and a journalist were formidable opponents but Lena won in the end, as she usually did. The bottle of wine was almost gone. The fire was now so hot, Kara was sweating in the sweatshirt. The trees were so thick that a semi-darkness always enwrapped the cabin and with the storm it was hard to tell by the light outside what time it was. But it didn’t matter. There was nothing they had to do, no responsibilities that pulled them away from relaxation. They could sit on the couch for hours, just in each other’s presence. Kara couldn’t remember the last time that had happened and as she tried to think back, she wasn’t sure it had ever happened. There was always something to interrupt them, something more pressing, something they both knew was more important than them.

Kara got to her feet to join Lena on the couch. She pulled some of the blanket onto her own legs and intertwined their hands, her eyes glazing over as she stared into the flickering flames.

She felt like they were living the day in vignettes. The smell of coffee, the unfortunate burning of pancakes, Lena’s sleepy smile as she ate them anyway. The scene had a luminescence to it. Then the boat which had a creeping darkness to its edges. The afternoon cuddled inside was yellow and warm. Further into the evening: another bottle of wine, slow dancing in the kitchen, waiting for the lasagna to be done, and the sweetness of chocolate chip cookies. And then nighttime on the porch, one lamp sending a dim yellow light into the space, Lena with a book in her lap and Kara’s arms around her shoulders.

The rain had yet to let up and Kara found she was drifting off to sleep to the sound of the pattering on the roof.

“You can go to bed,” Lena said, turning a page. “You must be tired. You didn’t sleep last night.”

Kara yawned. “I didn’t realize you noticed.”

“I’ve been waking up next to you for nine years. Of course, I noticed.” Lena squeezed her leg, not taking her eyes off the page. “Go.”

Kara kissed her on the side of the head before getting up and stretching. “Are you coming?”

Lena adjusted her glasses. “I think I’m going to read for a while longer.”

Kara didn’t even have time to think about the day, she didn’t notice Lena coming up the stairs to bed, as soon as she turned the light around and curled up, she was out.

They lazed around the cabin the next morning and didn’t head out until late afternoon, calling Eliza to let her know they were on their way. The car ride out of the mountains was as quiet as the car ride in. Kara wished Lena would speak. Aside from a couple moments of awkwardness that wasn’t usual to them, she had enjoyed the weekend and it seemed like Lena had too. But it was almost as if leaving the cabin switched Lena back into the mode she was more comfortable with. The moment Kara started the car she was on her tablet. They still weren’t in cell service so her phone was useless but sometimes her fingers strayed to it before realizing she couldn’t make the call she had been thinking of. Music played softly from the radio, neither of them really listening to it. Kara was trying to think about something else aside from the one thing that had been on her mind for two days. She thought of seeing her kids again and the distraction they would bring. The dog would need walked; the litter box cleaned. Though Eliza would feed them dinner, Lori would probably be hungry again by the time they made it back to National City. Ethan would either be sleeping or an angry screaming mess of exhaustion. They would have to get Lori to school the next morning. It was all so much easier to focus on. The chaos. The schedule.

But it didn’t completely fade into the background. Something lay between them now, something hard to ignore.


	19. Chapter 19

“Kara!” The sound of her name being shouted across the editorial floor wasn’t a new experience but over the years, it had become much less frequent. Cat would send her an email or send an assistant to get Kara whenever she was needed.

The upside was that the correct name was being shouted. The downside was that she still jumped at the sound of the call. Images from her own assistant days flashed through her mind. You didn’t hesitate when Cat called you, so she scurried across the floor, giving curt smiles to anyone who looked up as she passed.

She stepped into Ms. Grant’s office. “Yes, Ms. Grant?”

Cat looked up over her glasses. She was sitting with her legs crossed under her desk, penning something in longhand which was an old tradition she was wont to use. She took her time snapping the lid onto her pen and setting it on her desk, her eyes surveying Kara the entire time. Cat’s gaze was never completely comfortable, and Kara fidgeted with her belt as she waited for Ms. Grant to speak.

“If you’re going to come into the office hungover, Kara, have the decency to wear sunglasses.”

_There was a quick knock at the door. “Lena said you’d be here.”_

_Kara started and accidentally made a large red streak across the copy she was reading. Her hand clutched at her chest as she took a deep breath._

_“Ah, I kind of love that.”_

_She would never get used to the fact that people could sneak up on her now. Without even trying, people continually scared the shit out of her. And of course, her friends found an indecent pleasure in that._

_She shot a look at her sister who stood in the doorway of her CatCo office. It was a jarring sight in and of itself; Alex hadn’t shown up at CatCo in years, preferring to use coms and make Kara come to her. The empty upstairs office that they had taken over the first year Kara had become Supergirl hadn’t been used since she started working closely with the DEO. Winn had striped the place and as far as Kara knew, not having been up there for a long time, the office still stood empty with the ghost of its prior owner._

_Alex strode into the office. “You weren’t at L-Corp and you almost made me drive to the suburbs for you.”_

_She said it like it made her skin crawl. Though Alex enjoyed the reprieves of Midvale, she was through and through a city woman. _

_All of a sudden Alex froze and looked around. “What are you doing at the office at 8pm? Is this a body swap thing? Are you actually Lena?”_

_She sighed heavily, dropping the pen onto the desk. “I’m just trying to get ahead of the next issue. I feel like I’m always running a marathon here.”_

_It did, in reality, take her about three times the amount of time to finish the tasks she needed to do. She had her powers to thank for incredible efficiency and a drop-in productivity would alarm people. She didn’t need the questions. Of course, Cat Grant knew about her being Supergirl; they had an unspoken agreement in which they never spoke about it. She never inquired why Supergirl had vanished from National City except to give Kara pointed looks every now and again. The underlying comment of those looks was that there was no blame; Cat trusted that if she wasn’t doing her superhero duty, there was a solid and reasonable explanation. And because Kara was now editor, there was no one pushing her for exclusives on the girl of steel._

_Kara pulled herself away from the pitying string of thoughts she wouldn’t allow herself to spiral into. “What are you doing here?”_

_Alex wasn’t blind; she had noticed. But Kara saw her expression change quickly from an inquiring puzzlement to a big smile. She was glad Alex hadn’t pressed. Her sister threw her arms above her head and exclaimed, “We’re getting you drunk!”_

_Kara smiled amiably but shook her head. “I don’t think so, Alex. It’s late. I want to get home to the kids. And besides, it’s a Tuesday.”_

_“We chose this day on purpose,” Alex said as if the reason was obvious. “You get to experience what we’ve all been living with our entire lives: going to work with a hangover.”_

_“Why would anyone do that?” Kara asked, sitting back in her desk chair._

_Alex pursed her lips, leaning herself easily against the doorway._

_“Uh… okay…wait, you keep saying we…” Kara trailed off hesitantly, afraid of hearing what was in store for her._

_“You’re going to get good, real, human drunk.” Alex waved her hand, “None of this waking up in the morning feeling perfect.”_

_“You didn’t answer my question.”_

_Alex looked absolutely annoyed that Kara hadn’t immediately agreed. “Who do you think it is? Everyone, Kara.”_

_“Okay, so all of you are terrible. Good to know.”_

_Alex completely ignored her. “It’s a rite of passage that you, unfortunately, have missed out on. And now, we get to change that.”_

_Kara’s eyes drifted to the dark office outside of her door. Alex slammed her hands down on Kara’s desk. Kara jumped. She did not like the smile growing on her sister’s face. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. I get to see you completely smashed.”_

_“You’ve seen me drunk before, Alex,” Kara shook her head, trying to give her sister a hint by going back to work. It didn’t work. _

_“Not with the impending day after.”_

_“I really don’t think –“_

_“Too bad.”_

_“What?” Kara laughed, again turning away from the copy._

_“This isn’t for you, Kara. This is for me.” As if to sweeten the deal, she added, “You don’t have to get me anything for my birthday or for Christmas if you do this.”_

_“That’s not –“_

_“For five years.”_

_Kara looked at her, silently asking for an explanation._

_“No gifts for five years if you do this.”_

_They stared at each other, almost as if to see who would break first. Anyone betting would have won when Kara looked away and sighed. _

_“Alright.” Even as she said it, Kara knew that she would still get Alex gifts for every holiday they were required for. For some reason, the joy on Alex’s face at her affirmative made it all worth it. Or so she thought. The next morning, she would not be thinking such nice thoughts about her sister at all._

_The entire night was a complete haze. Her experience with any kind of alien alcohol did not prepare her at all for the extreme lengths a human body could endure and then the follies that it could immediately suffer. She knew what it took to dissolve any of her Kryptonian physiology, which was hard to do in the first place. That knowledge was no help. It seemed to be like the science they were dealing with at the El Department, it just didn’t have a conversion factor. There was an incredible Maltusian alcohol, the closest thing to whiskey on Earth she could find. It could bring her to her knees in three drinks. Czarnian beer was a moral quandary for her so she mostly stayed away from it. She had seen it ruin a few people at Al’s over the years; the smallest amount had even the heaviest weights lose their sense of being. She spent most of her time drinking her favorite Roltikkon beer. It was heavy enough to allow her time to pace herself. Within three she had a nice buzz. On stronger nights, she’d start interspersing shots of an Alcorian liqueur. There was always a limit she wouldn’t surpass, and she had it down to a science. Enough to be floaty, not so much that when she slammed her hand onto a table in laughter, it cracked under the strength._

_Human alcohol was completely different. She watched her friends overindulge much to their surprise or not get drunk even though they were pounding shots back. None of it had ever tasted good to her and since it didn’t have the effect that alcohol was supposed to have, she had never forced herself to drink it. _

_“We” didn’t turn out to be everyone as Alex has insisted. J’onn wasn’t joining them. Kara was holding out hope that he would be there; it would’ve been nice to have him look out for her. He came for full family gatherings, and most game nights but was an infrequent presence when they decided to go out on the town._

_Lena had also tapped out, choosing to stay home with their kids rather than take part. Alex had asked her, but she showed no interest in the endeavor. Alex relayed their conversation in what was a terrible impersonation of Lena, “It’s really up to her Alex, But it is your fault, so if she goes along with it, you get to deal with the aftermath. Do not bring her home.”_

_So, the plan was for her friends to get her smashed and then let her sleep it off on Alex’s couch._

_Alex was a whiskey fiend and could hold her alcohol almost as well as Maggie who seemed to be coherent even when wasted. James drank beer and would take the occasional tequila shot with Winn. He was usually the most composed of the group. James brought Lucy who always got the right amount of drunk but had no problem egging anyone else past their limit. She wasn’t drinking this time around though. A couple months before, they had announced to the group that she was pregnant. Her decision to come was based completely on the fact that she was going to get to see Kara make a fool of herself. Winn was a train wreck every single time. So unfortunately, with Alex’s help, Kara was to follow Winn’s plan of destruction. _

_Becoming more human hadn’t had any effect on her taste buds, so Kara still blanched at everything they drank. They started the night out with a round of shots for everyone, quickly followed by two more shots for herself and Winn. His philosophy was to overload your system so you feel it quick and then hopefully you can still get to bed early enough to at least get a full night’s sleep._

_Luckily, as the time past, the flavor no longer mattered. And time did pass, seemingly so fast that she completely lost track of it. Human drunk was different than alien drunk. With her cells full of yellow sun radiation, her body was constantly fighting off any effect that a drink should have. Without it, she couldn’t tell her level of intoxication until the room was swimming, she was stumbling, and she no longer cared. The next drink sounded like the best idea ever and then so did the one after that. It hit without warning and she was in a giggly mood before she had known she was in floaty mood. And then right after giggly mood was blackout. There was absolutely nothing in between those two. She had no recollection of anything after she went to the bar to ask for another drink, slurred her words beyond intelligibility and then couldn’t stop her forehead from falling against the bar._

_Even as she sat up on Alex’s couch the next morning, her head pounding as soon as she opened her eyes, she couldn’t put anything together in chronological order from the night before. Many spots of her memory were blanks, missing pieces of time that she couldn’t explain away. And even the things she remembered were fuzzy._

_She drooped over, allowing her head to fall between her knees, hoping that getting the blood to her brain would stop whatever this horrendous feeling was. Her stomach roiled at any movement and she had to swallow down the nausea that threatened to send her running to the bathroom. She was absolutely exhausted, and every breath felt like it took every bit of her strength._

_“Please let me sit under the sun lamp.”_

_”Nope!” said a much too cheerful Alex as she stepped down from the lofted bedroom and saw her sister awake on the couch._

_“Everything hurts.”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Why do humans do this?” Kara groaned._

_“I won’t pretend we don’t ask ourselves that same question every time. Yet…”_

_“You still choose to do it.” Kara fell back into the couch, shutting her eyes, wishing away the headache. _

_“Did I take a nap on a pool table?” Kara asked, squinting as she tried to remember. _

_“No, but you did lay on one. You said it was an easier way to play the game.”_

_Kara huffed and rubbed at her head. “I think if I can get rid of the headache, I’ll be fine.”_

_Alex guffawed as she grabbed the coffee pot. “Just wait until you eat something. It’ll get worse.”_

_“How?” Kara whined, offended. “Isn’t that supposed to help?”_

_“Oh, I’m sure it helps your body. It does not help how you feel though.”_

_“Is Little Danvers dead?” To Kara’s headache, it sounded as if Maggie was yelling._

_“I’d like to be,” Kara fell sideways onto the couch. Alex came around the furniture, setting a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. “All I have to do is sit at a desk all day, I can’t even imagine how you two do it.”_

_“We don’t.”_

_“Anymore.” _

_Kara heard the fridge being opened and shut._

_“Work nights are off limits for drunken stupidity.”_

_Kara sat up too fast, her vision darkening. She waited a moment for it to clear. “So, why did you make me do it.?”_

_“We did it for years.”_

_Alex nudged her, settling onto the couch next to her. “Couldn’t let you miss out on an overwhelmingly common experience.”_

_Kara glared at her sister. “This deserves ten years of no presents.”_

_The look of pity she received when Lena laid eyes on her was almost more humiliating than anything that happened the night before. And that included the fact that she had decided to do karaoke by herself in the middle of the bar on a night that was not in fact karaoke night._

_“Oh, honey,” Lena said as she frowned to hide her vague amusement. She wrapped her arm around Kara’s back and pulled her in, placing a kiss on Kara’s temple._

_“Doesn’t she look wrecked?”_

_Kara threw her wadded-up napkin at Maggie who just laughed. “What? You do.”_

_Kara looked up to Lena who grimaced. “You do look rough.”_

_Alex had graciously offered to get her breakfast before sending her off for a full day of work. Kara staunchly decided on Noonan’s. At first, stuffing her face with an egg sandwich, and then a croissant, and then a donut felt wonderful, but soon after, her focus drawn away from the act of eating, her stomach churned, and the nausea returned full force. Alex hadn’t been lying about food being the enemy._

_She huffed but ignored them and instead reached down to the stroller to say good morning to Ethan. He was wide-awake, chewing on a purple plastic ring. Kara wiped up the drool that was running down his face as best she could._

_Lena readjusted her bag on her shoulder. Kara’s attention was drawn away from Ethan and her misery for a second. “You’re not staying.”_

_“I’m already late but I wanted to stop by for a second.”_

_“Do you want my other croissant?” Kara asked, offering Lena the bag._

_“Sure.”_

_Kara snatched it back quickly before she could grab it. “You better not give it to Andrew.”_

_Lena’s eyebrows arched. “Lori ate her breakfast and my breakfast this morning so I will be keeping this for myself.”_

_“Is he mine today?” Kara cooed at Ethan._

_“I think you’re going to have a handful with yourself to take care of.”_

_“I’ll take him,” Alex offered._

_Lena threw her a look. “And what? He’s just going to sit in the stroller in the middle of the DEO all day?”_

_Alex nodded, throwing her arm around Maggie’s chair. “Point taken._

_“I’m sorry,” Kara apologized. Ethan was usually her responsibility during the day. Having to leave him with Lena because she went out to get idiotically drunk the night before was inconsiderate._

_Lena stroked her hair. “It’ll be fine. I only have one meeting today and Sam can take it if necessary. She wanted to sit in on it as it were.”_

_They were still hesitant about daycares and Ethan was still too young for preschool. He was a smart little boy but because of his late walking and talking development, they thought it might be best to hold off until he was four or five to enroll him. It would make their lives a little more difficult for a couple extra years, but they didn’t want to push him into a setting in which it couldn’t excel._

_“Kiss then?” Kara asked, angling her face up to Lena with a smile._

_Lena bent down and kissed Kara goodbye without input from Alex or Maggie. Their incessant comments of “ewwww,” “gross,” “get a room,” was a habit that gratefully, had long wilted. _

_“See you after work.”_

_“I’ll pick up Lorelai.”_

_“Are you sure?_

_“I can be a responsible adult even with a hangover.”_

_“Tell that to yourself when you fall asleep on your desk at 3pm,” Maggie commented, taking a smug sip of her coffee._

“Wouldn’t that make it more obvious?” Kara asked, her head quirking to the side. She tried to hide the embarrassment in her voice as best she could but didn’t think it slipped past Cat Grant.

“Oh,” Cat stated, standing up from her desk and going to her drink cart, “we’re all going to know but it would save us from having to look at your sad, tired eyes all day.”

Kara pursed her lips and nodded at the floor. Some things about Cat Grant would never change but Kara had experienced enough of the kinder side of the woman to no longer take it personally. Her biting personality was a staple; Kara couldn’t imagine the woman without it. “Don’t worry, Ms. Grant, there won’t be a next time.”

“Here,” Cat clearly ignored her, holding out a tumbler with a splash of gin.

Kara looked around and pointed to herself. “Me?”

“No, Kara, the spirit that inhabits my office whom I love to talk to. Yes, you,” Cat said, waving her hands around.

“Oh, I don’t really drink, Ms. Grant.”

“Except for last night.”

Kara took the offered glass. “…Yes.”

Cat motioned to the couch, “Have a seat.”

Kara immediately followed orders, setting the glass on the table, hoping it would be forgotten.

“I want to talk to you about Supergirl. It’s been a while since there’s been an update.”

Kara had tried to at least put in a little line about the hero of National City here and there during the months of her absence. A little hint that she was still out there.

“Oh, well,” Kara smiled uncomfortably, “I haven’t heard from her.”

Cat stared at her for one second more than was comfortable. “Okay. We will keep this little charade going for as long as you need.”

Kara’s boss sat on the couch across from her, studying her. “I need to be in the loop. This magazine created her public image. Whatever the repercussions are will hit us.”

“What are you asking, Ms. Grant?” Kara asked, skeptical of the actual question that was being skirted.

Cat slid her hand over her skirt, straightening out a wrinkle. “I need to know if I should be getting the people of National city ready to receive their hero back with open arms or to lose her forever.”

Kara pulled herself up, shoulders straight and back, her chest slightly out. “When it is safe for her to return, she will be back.”

Cat smirked and warned, “Watch out, Kara, you’ll give yourself away.”

Kara stood up. “She’s not deserting the city.”

Cat was amused by her directness. “Oh, I’m not worried about that. National City has always been able to take care of itself. The people here are strong and resilient and they have withstood immense stress. They bounce back because they are a community. Supergirl arrived and became a symbol, an icon, a paragon of hope that strengthens this determination. But,” Cat paused for a moment, watching as Kara took in her words, “Supergirl needs this city more than it needs her.”

“That doesn’t mean they don’t deserve help. She is not leaving them unprotected,” Kara responded, smarting from the suggestion. She ignored the last part of Cat’s comment, not sure why it started a roiling anger in her core.

“I’m not insinuating that she is,” Cat said in a voice that told Kara they weren’t having an argument. “I’ve always believed in her. Supported her. Defended her. I will continue to do that because I believe the explanation for her absence is one of protection. But I’m me. And I cannot possibly promise that the citizens of the city think the same way. I cannot promise their response, to whatever news is coming, will be from the same state of mind. People are fickle. What? It took one month of every news station covering it until they weren’t making enough money from the story anymore and they stopped.”

“She’s not testing their loyalty,” Kara said, her voice full of disgust.

“No,” Cat said, nodding her head in agreement, “They’re testing hers.”


End file.
